Bulawayo residents demand road repairs

Bulawayo residents have used the launch of a new Citizen Engagement Scorecard to demand urgent action on the city's deteriorating road network, saying potholes are damaging vehicles and making it difficult to access essential services.

The scorecard was launched by the City of Bulawayo in partnership with the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works at the Small City Hall on Wednesday.

The platform is intended to give residents a direct channel to assess municipal services and identify areas where they believe the local authority needs to improve.

However, roads emerged as one of the major concerns raised by residents during the launch.

Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association Ward 11 chairman Steven Nkomo said the condition of the roads was deteriorating because of continued use and inadequate funding for maintenance.

He called for vehicle insurance revenue generated in Bulawayo to be channelled towards maintaining the city's roads.

"Our roads are being damaged every day. Even if we try to fix the roads, our roads are being damaged because of the cars that are being driven on the roads," Nkomo said.

He argued that the city needed greater access to revenue generated locally to address its infrastructure challenges.

"What we are asking for is that the car insurance for the Bulawayo cars gets paid in Bulawayo and not the central government so that we can receive that money and be able to fix our roads," he said.

Residents said the road conditions were not merely a transport inconvenience but were affecting access to healthcare and other essential services.

Melusi Sibanda said residents in his area had even considered sourcing materials themselves to fill potholes.

"Pertaining to potholes, there has been a high rate of potholes in the city, a lot of cars are being damaged by these potholes," he said.

Sibanda said poor roads could have serious consequences for residents travelling to hospitals.

"It will be difficult when I'm going to the hospital and then my car gets damaged by the potholes on my way to the hospital. We really need council assistance," he said.

Cowdray Park resident Isheanesu Gumbo said the state of the roads was also damaging relations between residents and the local authority.

"There are no roads to talk about, we don't have roads as Bulawayo. The relationship between us and the City Council is not good because we pay our taxes and we do not receive the services," Gumbo said.

He said residents were ultimately bearing the cost of poor service delivery.

"We are the ones who suffer at the end of the day," he said.

Bulawayo City Council Acting Town Clerk Sikhangele Zhou said the scorecard would help authorities identify areas where service delivery was falling short.

"This is why the government created this platform so that the residents can help point out to us where we are lacking and where we are not responsive," Zhou said.

She encouraged residents to provide honest feedback through the platform, arguing that accurate information would help council prioritise its interventions.

Zhou said the scorecard would also help authorities identify urgent needs, including water challenges, emergency response and road rehabilitation.

"The report says we must address the emergency responses such as water and things to do with fire breakouts," she said.

She warned that inaccurate feedback could result in some problems being incorrectly classified as less urgent.

"Let's keep the responses as honest as possible because we cannot improve if we do not address the situation," Zhou said.

The scorecard comes as Bulawayo continues to grapple with ageing infrastructure, constrained municipal resources and growing demands from residents for improved service delivery.

For residents, the hope is that the new feedback mechanism will translate their complaints about potholes and other municipal shortcomings into concrete action.