adminFrom Walter Mswazie in Masvingo
THE Masvingo City Council needs about $25 million for the rehabilitation of roads and construction of new ones in 2017, amid concerns over the incessant rains which have left the road network in a bad state.
Masvingo Mayor Councillor Hubert Fidze said the allocation the local authority receives from the Zimbabwe National Road Authority (Zinara) was not adequate to cover all road rehabilitation and maintenance work.
He said in 2016 council needed at least $20 million but given the amount of damage caused by the rains this year the money has risen to at least $25 million.
He said council needs about $10 million to attend to failed roads, spring and chip spraying, $5 million for patching, $ 10 million for acquiring road construction and rehabilitation equipment.
Failed roads are those that need to be totally stripped and laid afresh while spring and chip spraying is a technique used to add a new layer over existing roads to refurbish them.
He however, said council has benefited from the $2 road levies collected from residents in tarring most of the roads in residential areas that include Mucheke and Rujeko suburbs.
“We are behind schedule in terms of attending to our road network system. We need about $25 million for us to be able to rehabilitate our roads which should include patching and tarring. Last year we needed at least $20 million but received less than $700 000 from Zinara and we have a backlog in terms of rehabilitation work.
“We always get an average of $85 000 per quarter from Zinara for road maintenance yet it costs about $100 000 to resurface a 100-metre portion. We are presently tarring Haurovi Chinouriri Street in Runyararo West but progress is hampered by the incessant rains. We are doing this using the $2 road levies collected by council from residents last year. We have collected over $300 000 and that has gone a long way in helping council attend to the road network system,” he said.
@walterbmswazie2
Online Reporter