Positive impact of ERRP 2 programme being felt in Bulawayo

ACCORDING to Bulawayo City Council, 75 percent of the 2 400km road network in the country’s second largest city has outlived its lifespan and needs to be redone.

The local authority says the city requires at least US$700 million to rehabilitate its major roads.

Such an amount of money cannot be raised overnight. The city certainly has no capacity to raise the funds, partly because residents are not paying their rates.

While central Government can raise the required amount, obligations are many. In every corner of the country there is a road that needs fixing.

It is indeed impossible to attend to every road that needs attention, so Government came up with a plan: the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme.

It is through the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme 2 (ERRP 2) Phase II that road rehabilitation works have commenced in Bulawayo, bringing smiles to the faces of motorists who have had to endure with potholes on even the busiest of roads.

Already, contractors have started working on a section of Cecil Avenue after Government poured $33 billion towards the ERRP 2 programme.

The funding was availed after Government declared most of the country’s roads a State of Disaster.

As we reported yesterday, the positive impact of ERRP 2 programme has been witnessed on roads such as Siyephambili Drive, George Avenue and 23rd Avenue.

In the latest rehabilitation works, one of the city’s major roads, Cecil Avenue, will be rehabilitated from Bulawayo-Harare Highway to Hillside Road stretching 6,5km. The road is closed from the highway to Coghlan Avenue.

The rehabilitation of the road and three other major roads being done in the city by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development is expected to be complete by December.

Surveys are underway to pave way for work that will start in due course on Victoria Falls Road stretching from Masotsha Ndlovu Avenue to Glenville Drive, Lady Stanley Avenue and rehabilitation of a 5km stretch of the Bulawayo-Gwanda Road from Ascot to Puma Service Station.

While we hail Government efforts in assisting the city of Bulawayo, the Department of Roads must be on the lookout for chancers, construction companies out to make a quick buck by doing shoddy work.

Such corruption should never be tolerated. Local companies have been given the chance to shine, hence they must do a good job.

One of the reasons why local roads need so much attention is because of poor workmanship.

Recently, an ERRP 2 monitoring committee was established in a bid to assess road works being implemented to prevent shoddy work witnessed in some areas last year.

Companies caught on the wrong side must be banned for good. They must never get a single penny from the taxpayer.

Roads are an essential part of national development. They facilitate trade of goods and services and attract foreign direct investment.

Above all, roads are a national asset. They need to be maintained. The relevant road authorities must look after roads to avoid total deterioration.

The ERRP 2 will change the face of the city. And as the President says: “Brick by brick we are building the Zimbabwe we all want.”