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Columbus Mabika-Herald Reporter
Motorists using Seke Road have pleaded with Government to immediately seal potholes near Manyame River bridge under the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme 2 (ERRP2), describing the condition of the road on that stretch as a death trap.
The Government has in the recent weeks reconstructed over 10km of the Harare-Seke Road under ERRP2 with the dual carriageway set for a complete makeover.
Seke Road stretches from Harare Central to Chitungwiza and has a very high volume of traffic daily. It has been in bad shape for some time and Government has heeded calls for its rehabilitation from Coke Corner to Chitungwiza.
During peak hours, there is traffic congestion, with motorists travelling in both directions struggling to negotiate their way around the potholes.
Road construction and rehabilitation is regarded as a key economic enabler in the attainment of Vision 2030, which aims to achieve an upper middle income society in the next eight years.
Mr Tavonga Gumede, a motorist from Chitungwiza, commended the Government for rehabilitating a stretch of the road from the capital, saying there was need to move with speed to reconstruct the whole road.
“We thank the authorities for the parts of the road that have been reconstructed. We urge Government to quickly complete the programme to avert accidents,” he said.
Another motorist from Dema, Mr Anias Zuze, said the potholes at Manyame Bridge were very dangerous as motorists risked collisions.
“The bridge should be attended to urgently. It is dangerous because a motorist can lose control of a vehicle after hitting a pothole and plunge into the river,” said Mr Zuze.
A St Mary’s resident, Mrs Christine Chisvo, said it was time private citizens who beg for money from motorists on the pretext that they were fixing potholes were arrested.
She said instead of fixing the potholes, they were creating more potholes so that they could remain on the road begging.
“The issue of potholes is a perennial problem, but I think it is being worsened by those people pretending to be fixing them while begging for money from motorists.
“There is a crew in my neighbourhood that has been working on a single pothole since last year collecting money from motorists. In the process, they are expanding and creating more potholes. They should be arrested,” she said.
The Government has so far spent more than $1 billion on road rehabilitation, gravelling, drainage structuring as part of the Second Republic’s ERRP2 that was launched by President Mnangagwa last year.
The ongoing rehabilitation of the country’s roads dovetails with the New Dispensation’s thrust of modernising the national transport infrastructure, which is a key enabler for economic growth and development.
So far, ERRP2 has seen over 220km of roads being rehabilitated while several hundreds of kilometres have been resealed.
Online Reporter