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THE Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) has bought 40 more motorised graders for the rehabilitation of the dilapidated rural road network under its second phase of equipment support for rural local authorities.The move follows the initial phase, which was launched by President Mugabe in May this year, where 40 motorised graders were officially commissioned and given to local authorities to repair roads.
Zinara chief executive officer Mr Frank Chitukutuku revealed they had bought 40 additional graders on the first day of the 10th Rural District Councils’ Engineers Annual Conference at the Hwange Safari Lodge on Monday.
“We have received 40 motorised graders under the second batch. The graders have arrived and 20 of them have already been assembled. We are yet to announce the official commissioning date,” said Mr Chitukutuku.
“Those local authorities, which did not benefit from the first batch in May, will benefit from this second batch. We will advise you of the distribution mechanisms by the end of the month.”
In the initial phase, Zinara bought 40 graders, 24 of which were given to rural local authorities, eight to the District Development Fund (DDF) and eight to the Department of Roads.
Mr Chitukutuku said the equipment would help repair roads. He said the first three months after the launch of the programme has already resulted in improvement of the rural road network with up to 2 937km of gravel road having been graded compared to 2 430km for the whole of last year and 2 056km in 2011.
Mr Chitukutuku said his organisation would work closely with the local authorities in monitoring the use of the graders and assist them in their maintenance.
He said the monitoring system was computerised and makes use of a call centre, which enhances efficiency and effectiveness.
“The system is able to track down equipment usage, machine status, faults and mileage and is able to create a ticket, which shows a full description of the problems encountered. This is done to ensure that the technician goes to the site fully prepared.
“If the equipment is taken to another area instead of where it is supposed to be, the system is also able to track it. We have done sufficient trainings with the operators of the equipment and this system is good for you,” said Mr Chitukutuku.
“What we have done makes life easier for local authorities because you are not worried about maintenance as we take care of that.”
He said Zinara officials would be able to react swiftly once the problem in the machine was registered in the call centre within 48 hours of notification.
In their contributions, the participants commended Zinara for doing a good job in empowering local authorities with equipment. They said a majority of roads in the country, especially in rural areas, were in a sorry state that has resulted in some transport operators abandoning some routes.
Others said the poor road network was repelling investors and making it difficult for councils to fully carry out their mandate.
There were also reports that most roads were last graded in 1998 and that a majority of them were virtually impassable while some have been damaged by rains.
The Association of Rural District Councils Engineers is an affiliate of the Zimbabwe Local Government Association (Zilga), an umbrella body of all local authorities in the country.
Zilga chief executive officer Mr Rodgers Mozhenty said the equipment support for councils would reverse the poor state of the road network and make Zimbabwe an attractive investment destination.
Hwange council chairperson, Councillor Sipiwe Mafuwa said road rehabilitation and maintenance was at the heart of the mandate of local authorities adding that equipment support would transform the performance of councils.
The official opening of the conference is scheduled for today by the provincial administrator for Matabeleland North, Ms Latiso Dlamini.
Among the objectives of the conference is to understand the thrust of the Government on the development of road infrastructure, capacitating engineers with technical skills, sharing of knowledge and experience, creating a professional network and finding strategies of how to provide effective service delivery.
The delegates include engineers from rural district councils, councillors and officials from the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development.
Online Reporter
Londile Moyo