adminSukulwenkosi Dube Plumtree Correspondent
Mangwe Rural District Council Chief Executive Officer, Nketha Mangoye Dlamini, has said 80 percent of roads in the district need maintenance and repairing as they were in a bad state. Dlamini said villagers were facing challenges as some roads to remote parts of the district were unusable.
“About 80 percent of the road network in Mangwe is bad and requires maintenance. These roads comprise state roads, council roads and roads monitored by the District Development Fund (DDF).
“As a result we have a situation whereby service providers shun some villages because of excess corrugations. Crucial service providers like ambulances sometimes fail to reach remote areas. Very few transport operators are willing to operate in some parts of the district and those who do, charge exorbitant prices,” said Dlamini.
The district only has 60 kilometres of tarred road and this is the route which most public vehicles ply.
Dlamini said the local authority had upgraded 48 kilometres of earth road last year and were targeting about 200 kilometres this year.
“We are currently working on Syringa- Castle Block Road which is 69 kilometres long. We have also managed to upgrade some tracks which link villages into normal roads which can also be used by vehicles.
“However, this is far from solving the problem as the main roads are in a poor state and need repairing. Relevant stakeholders should chip in and collectively address this problem,” he said.
Transport operators who ply the Plumtree- Mangwe Road said they were now charging passengers based on the state of the road and not on the distance.
Some transport operators are charging $5 for a 40 kilometre distance.
“The roads are really bad and we are forced to consider the state of the road before charging passengers. This is inevitable because we have to take our vehicles for servicing every now and then.
“Therefore in order to meet these costs we have to increase the charges a little bit,” said a driver Thomas Masuku.
He said the roads were damaged to the extent that drivers had to use scotch cart paths that normally run on the sides of official roads.
Dlamini said the Plumtree-Mphoengs Border road needed urgent attention as it has a huge traffic flow.
Online Reporter