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Herald Reporter
Harare City Council is clearing storm drains in the Central Business District and residential areas as rains continue falling. The city want to avert flooding caused by blocked storm water drains last year.
In a statement, Harare City Council spokesperson Mr Michael Chideme said drain clearance was an ongoing process.
“The drain clearance programme is an ongoing process because each day our people are littering the drainage system,” he said.
Mr Chideme urged people to avoid littering the drainage systems.
“Keep the drainage system clear of litter. Any littering will negatively affect the residents. We need community policing on litter,” he said.
In May, council resolved to engage 450 general workers on a three-month contract basis to assist in repairing damaged roads under the Government-supported Emergency Roads Rehabilitation programme.
The general labourers were paid a gross salary of $244,48 per month each.
According to the Human Resources and General Purposes Committee minutes, council noted that the city’s roads were declared a national disaster by Government.
The committee said director of works Engineer Phillip Pfukwa reported that general labourers had previously been engaged for drain-clearing and that their re-engagement had been prompted by the need to urgently repair rain-damaged roads.
The flooding in the CBD last year saw some motorists grounded as many roads were impassable.
Harare City Council recently received $26 million from Government’s Emergency Rehabilitation Fund to ensure that roads were repaired before the onset of the rainy season.
According to recent ordinary council minutes, Acting Town Clerk Mrs Josephine Ncube told councillors that so far $6 million was used in road maintenance.
Council had since identified roads that required urgent attention, which include Granville Cemetery Road, Kuwadzana Extension (when turning into Bulawayo Road) and Ardbennie Road, among others.
The city council is also requesting the Department of Works (in the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development) to include a provision for black spots and humps in the 2018 budget.
Harare is now embarking on the second phase of roadworks which entail road reconstruction, rehabilitation, resealing, overlaying and marking.
The city’s 2018 budget proposes to allocate $12 million to roads and maintenance programmes.
The road network has not had any meaningful routine maintenance over the last 15 years.
Government has pledged to help rehabilitate the capital’s 5 000-kilometre road network.
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