Roads face uncertainty . . . as Zinara needs $2bn

A majority of the country’s roads have reportedly outlived their lifespans by more than 30 years. The average lifespan of a road is about 20 years.
In an interview yesterday, the Governor and Resident Minister of Matabeleland North, Thokozile Mathuthu, said a four-wheel drive vehicle was needed to negotiate some of the roads in the province.
“The roads are really bad. An example is the Bulawayo-Nkayi road, which has been under construction for more than 10 years. When it rains, parts of the road cannot be used. I do not know why the Ministry of Finance is taking so long to release funds for the completion of the road,” said Governor Mathuthu.
She said the Bulawayo-Tsholotsho Road needed to be upgraded from a strip road to a wide tar road because it handled high volumes of traffic.
“I cannot even begin to describe the state of the Nkayi to Gwelutshena Road. Like the roads in Jambezi, only a four- wheel drive vehicle can use this road when it rains. This cuts out villagers from receiving Government aid and farming inputs on time,” she said.
Governor Mathuthu praised Liberation Mine for rehabilitating part of the road from Gwayi to Lusulu.
“The road is now ready for tarring, I hope the Government and other stakeholders will follow the mining company’s example and improve our roads,” said Governor Mathuthu.
The Governor and Resident Minister for Matabeleland South, Angeline Masuku, could not comment, saying she was in a meeting.
A motorist, who identified herself as Edith, said she often faced problems when driving from Bulawayo to Harare.
“The surface of the road is not bad in most places, but there are patches that need urgent attention. If you drive through small towns like Kadoma, the potholes can ruin your shock absorbers,” said Edith.
She said the highway also needed to be widened because the road haulage trucks often travelled in the middle of the road, especially at night, leaving drivers of smaller cars with little space.
“I also think the money collected at tollgates is not being put to good use. It should not only cover roads, but should be used to fix lights near cities along the roads, put clear reflective markings and clear the grass on roadsides,” she said. 
In an interview at the weekend, the Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara) spokesperson, Mr Augustine Moyo, said the project to rehabilitate all roads was not likely to be undertaken soon, owing to financial constraints.
“The average lifespan of a road is about 20 years. A number of our roads were past that age at independence and most of them have not been rehabilitated since the time they were constructed in the 1960s and 70s,” said Mr Moyo.
He said the old roads were becoming more expensive to maintain every year.
“The old roads now easily develop potholes every rainy season. We keep patching them up, but they are appearing with increased frequency, making the roads expensive to maintain,” said Mr Moyo.
“We need about $2 billion for the project. The total road network in the country covers about 87 654 kilometres, comprising 18 640 km of State highways, 8 194 of urban roads and 61 000 km made up of rural roads. Most of these roads are in a serious state of disrepair. The deterioration of the roads accelerated from the year 2000 when the country came under sanctions from Western nations,” he said.
Mr Moyo said Zinara, which is responsible for the administration of the roads, could not raise the money that is needed.
“We get our revenue from road user charges. These include vehicle licences, toll fees, transit fees, abnormal load fees, fuel levy and axle overload charges. Last year, we raised only $80 million from the user fees,” said Mr Moyo.
He said the money was a far cry from the required $2 billion.
“The $80 million was disbursed to road authorities like the District Development Fund (DDF), department of roads, urban and rural councils. They patched up the roads in their areas, but what is really needed is the complete upgrading of most of the roads,” he said.
This year Zinara in conjunction with a South African based internationally renowned road construction company, Group Five, formed a company called Infralink to rehabilitate and upgrade an 820km stretch of highway from Plumtree to Mutare.
The project is being financed through a $206,6 million loan from the Development Bank of Southern Africa.
The work, which also includes widening the road to accommodate yellow lanes on either side, is expected to be completed in three years.
However, work groups on site so far seem to be clearing grass on the verges of the road and patching potholes.