News / National
State of Bulawayo city roads irks councillors
01 Mar 2017 at 08:47hrs | Views
The deplorable state of Bulawayo city roads following the heavy raids which hits the country recently has irked the Councillors who have recommended that the local authority should try to regrade 5km in every ward.
Councillor Collet Ndhlovu expressed concerns about the state of roads in the city. The recent rains had destroyed most of the roads.
"The recommended 5km road regrading per ward was no longer effective. Each ward should have a grader. He asked why community groups had varying days of contracts, others had 40 days while others had 20," he said during a full council meeting.
Councillor Thobani Ncube sought clarification on how many graders the Council had.
He said there was need to divide them according to the number of wards so that road repairs could be carried out in all wards. He reported that some residents had refused to open weeping holes on their durawalls in order to allow the flow of water.
Councillor Zana said that Council should have adequate graders.
"Roads in some wards were in a poor state of repair such that residents felt that the remaining tar should be removed. Residents should be encouraged to pay bills so that more equipment would be purchased," he said.
Councillor Norman Hlabani sought clarification on the road maintenance policy as he felt that Council was failing to maintain roads and private players should be engaged in road maintenance.
Councillor E. Ncube observed that the road connecting Pumula and Hyde Park peri-urban area was in bad shape. He said residents had requested Council to regrade that particular road.
Councillor R. D Jele wanted to know if ZINARA was disbursing any money for roads rehabilitation to Local Authorities.
"Did ZINARA have a capital budget to purchase equipment for road rehabilitation? Councillor J. Sithole while acknowledging the bad state of the roads he attributed this to challenges. He pointed out that previously the Council had acquired a loan from banks to attend to roads but it was disturbing that the same roads where these funds were utilised had deteriorated to unacceptable levels before the money had been paid back in full," Jele said.
Councillor Collet Ndhlovu expressed concerns about the state of roads in the city. The recent rains had destroyed most of the roads.
"The recommended 5km road regrading per ward was no longer effective. Each ward should have a grader. He asked why community groups had varying days of contracts, others had 40 days while others had 20," he said during a full council meeting.
Councillor Thobani Ncube sought clarification on how many graders the Council had.
He said there was need to divide them according to the number of wards so that road repairs could be carried out in all wards. He reported that some residents had refused to open weeping holes on their durawalls in order to allow the flow of water.
Councillor Zana said that Council should have adequate graders.
"Roads in some wards were in a poor state of repair such that residents felt that the remaining tar should be removed. Residents should be encouraged to pay bills so that more equipment would be purchased," he said.
Councillor Norman Hlabani sought clarification on the road maintenance policy as he felt that Council was failing to maintain roads and private players should be engaged in road maintenance.
Councillor E. Ncube observed that the road connecting Pumula and Hyde Park peri-urban area was in bad shape. He said residents had requested Council to regrade that particular road.
Councillor R. D Jele wanted to know if ZINARA was disbursing any money for roads rehabilitation to Local Authorities.
"Did ZINARA have a capital budget to purchase equipment for road rehabilitation? Councillor J. Sithole while acknowledging the bad state of the roads he attributed this to challenges. He pointed out that previously the Council had acquired a loan from banks to attend to roads but it was disturbing that the same roads where these funds were utilised had deteriorated to unacceptable levels before the money had been paid back in full," Jele said.
Source - Byo24News
