adminRoberta Katunga Senior Reporter
THE Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara) has released $430 000 to the Bulawayo City Council to fund road rehabilitation projects in preparation for the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair exhibition. The exhibition is an international fair hosted in Bulawayo annually and this year it will be held from 26-30 April. Acting Zinara chief executive
officer Engineer Moses Juma said yesterday the money was part of the authority’s efforts to complement Zim Asset and assist in employment creation.
He said more than 350 jobs have been created from the project.
“Bulawayo’s hosting of the ZITF is on behalf of the nation and considering that this is an international event, we found it necessary to upscale our involvement in road rehabilitation this year.
We fund this project annually but this year it has been more significant,” said Eng Juma.
According to Eng Juma, the main areas that the local authority will concentrate on in preparation for the fair are four intersections on Robert Mugabe Way which will be overlaid and the 12th Avenue to 23rd Avenue route including the parking area in front of the exhibition centre.
The other area that will be overlaid is Lobengula Street to Samuel Parirenyatwa Street.
“About 100 informative road signs will be installed in different areas around the city and we can assure you that all traffic lights in the Central Business District have been attended to as well as street lighting and carriage markings,” said Eng Juma.
He said the money released by Zinara will also cater for the community based road maintenance that has seen the council creating 352 jobs in eight wards and pothole patching and resealing of roads in the high density suburbs. The community based approach includes drain cleaning, slashing of grass and pothole patching.
Some of the ongoing works in the high-density suburbs include overlay of Luveve-Masiyephambili intersection, 1,3 kilometre premix overlay of Intemba Drive from Magwegwe West to Pumula as well as 500-metre overlay of Intemba towards Khami.
The Nketa 7 main road has been resealed for a distance of 2,3km as well as 630m of Godrich Road.
A similar initiative has been done by Zinara in Harare in partnership with the City of Harare which has seen road rehabilitation aimed at sprucing up the state of roads around the capital’s suburbs been done.
Online Reporter