adminNgoni Dapira Post Correspondent
MUTARE City Council has called for more road maintenance money from the Zimbabwe National Road Authority.
Mutare Mayor councilor, Tatenda Nhamarare during a meeting with the Minister of State Affairs for Manicaland Provincial Affairs, Cde Mandi Chimene last week Wednesday said that council had received $55 000 from Zinara as its 2015 allocation for drainage clearance and road maintenance.
Clr Nhamarare said that the money they have been receiving from Zinara for road maintenance was too little compared to the revenue they used to get when councils used to collect licence fees for motor vehicles.
The Mayor asked for intervention from the new resident Minister citing that roads in the city were in a terrible state while council’s coffers were empty to finance road maintenance programmes on top of other daily responsibilities such as refuse collection.
“Last year we received $28 000 from Zinara for potholes patching and this year we received $55 000 for drainage clearance.
“We need a lot of money for road maintenance in Mutare, more than what we have been getting. The bottom line is that the Zinara funds we are receiving are peanuts and something needs to be done to get the message across.
“As a result we end up borrowing and channelling money towards road maintenance, but this also hits back at us indirectly because that money would have been meant for wages among other important council business,” said Clr Nhamarare.
He added that council’s source of revenue was slowly dwindling following the dearth of the formal sector.
“We are now relying on the informal sector as a nation, but unfortunately most players in that sector play hide and seek with authorities, so as council we are getting very little revenue from them in terms of licencing. However, the sad thing is that regardless of such shortcomings people still expect us to deliver services without fail,” he said.
Zinara management came under attack last week after the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Dr Obert Mpofu directed the Zinara board to take over the day-to-day management of the authority to stamp out the rot in the debt ridden parastatal.
Zinara is responsible for collecting the licence fees for motor vehicles and in 2013 took over from Zimbabwe Revenue Authority to control all the country’s tollgates.
In 2013 Zinara introduced the ‘user pays principle’ whereby vehicle licence fees would be paid based on the net mass of the vehicle.
Online Reporter