‘Urban roads responsibility of councils’

Freeman Razemba
Senior Reporter
The Government has clarified that city roads maintenance falls under the purview of local authorities since they get allocations on a quarterly basis from the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara).

This comes as councils countrywide have been failing to maintain roads which have deteriorated to the extent of being impassable in some areas.

Road construction falls under the infrastructure cluster and roads are regarded as key economic enablers in line with the Government’s vision of attaining an upper middle income economy by 2030.

Government has so far spent over $1 billion on road rehabilitation, gravelling and drainage structuring as part of the Second Republic’s Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme 2 (ERRP2).

Addressing the Senate last week, Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Felix Mhona said Government had to move in and take over the rehabilitation and reconstruction of some of the roads in towns and cities after realising that councils had failed to do so.

“Local authorities have the mandate to repair and reconstruct roads in their areas since they are given their allocation on a quarterly basis by Zinara,” he said.

“They should also use part of that money to seal potholes, cut grass along the roads and to also ensure that they clear drainages.

“If see that they have failed to do so, they should approach the Ministry which also has a Department of Roads that overlooks all such issues.

“It is the duty of local authorities to repair roads, to ferry garbage, to ensure that traffic light controlled intersections are working well as well as ensuring that there is enough street lighting so that members of the public will not be mugged or attacked by criminals.

“Local authorities should play their roles and fulfil their mandates to show the nation that the money allocated to them and those that they are collecting from residents are properly being used. If they are not carrying out their mandate, they should update the public on why they are failing to do so.”

The Government took over the rehabilitation and reconstruction of roads in towns and cities after realising that the inept opposition was failing or unable to channel funds towards roads rehabilitation.

City roads were supposed to be under the purview of local authorities, but councils have failed to maintain them.