Zibagwe RDC gets $177 000 for roads

Michael Magoronga Midlands Correspondent
THE Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) recently disbursed $177 000 to Zibagwe Rural District Council for road maintenance under the Emergency Roads Rehabilitation Programme.

Zibagwe RDC chief executive Mr Farayi Machaya said the money was for the first quarter of the year and will be channeled towards routine maintenance and completion of other outstanding projects.

“A large portion of the money will go towards routine maintenance of roads. We are targeting the Vulamatshena Road in Zhombe where we will do gravel dumping and spreading for about 20 kilometers. We will also do the same for Crossroads in Silobela,” he said.

Other special projects, according to Mr Machaya, include the construction of a bridge at Mkobogwe Business Centre and opening of roads at Crossroads Business Centre where the local authority is expected to roll out residential stands.

“We are opening roads in Silobela where we are allocating residential stands where another chunk will be channeled towards. We also have the 15 Kilometre stretch of Sherwood-Kotamayi Business Centre road where we will also do gravel dumping,” he said.

Mr Machaya said they have since engaged about 12 casual workers to assist in the road maintenance while the local authority has also hired graders since most of theirs are down.

“Since our graders are down at the moment, we have considered hiring out equipment to work on the roads using gazette rates by the Ministry,” he said.

The local authority has since submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development for the rehabilitation of the ZESA- Sherwood Road and are awaiting response.

The cost of the 12 kilometre stretch, which will have a tar mark has been classified as a special project, is estimated at $2, 1 million.

“We want to move in tandem with the government vision of improving infrastructure, so we are leaving no stone unturned. We are still awaiting response from Government but we have since submitted the application,” he said.