Gweru gets $2,6m for roads
THE Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara) has allocated an additional $2,6 million to Gweru City Council for its road rehabilitation programme.
The local authority has been rehabilitating major roads linking the Central Business District and the suburbs.
Gweru Mayor, Councillor Charles Chikozho, confirmed that the city had received the $2,6 million from Zinara.
“We have been allocated 2,6 million for road rehabilitation by Zinara. They are happy with what we have done so far in terms of road rehabilitation that is why we are getting this amount.
“So our job now is to identify a contractor who will do the work then Zinara will deposit the money into the contractors account for the project, the money will not be coming to the council coffers.
“Some roads in Mkoba and Senga which were in a very bad state have been rehabilitated and people have been commending what we are doing,” said Clr Chikozho.
The recent allocation is likely to be greeted with another huge relief, with the money expected to improve the road infrastructure in the town which has of late been riddled with potholes.
Clr Chikozho said the council will prioritise roads that are in a very bad state.
“Generally our road network has been very bad so we will ask the contractor to work on important roads which are in bad shape,” he said.
Meanwhile the city’s director of engineering services, Engineer Robson Manatsa says the city needs at least $40 million to revamp its road network, which seriously needs attention as most of the roads have outlived their lifespan.
The Midlands capital has a road network of over 1 200 kilometres and the local authority has only managed to rehabilitate 27 kilometres of the city’s road network since September last year, records show.
To date, the city has accessed $5,6 million from Zinara. He said council will in the next phase of the rehabilitation exercise, which is likely to start in March, resurface major roads used by public transport operators.
“There is still a lot of work to be done to ensure that our roads are in a good state. We need at least $40 million to ensure that we rehabilitate the city’s road network and so far we have rehabilitated 27 kilometres under the Emergency Rehabilitation Programme,” he said.
“We have already flighted tenders for the next phase of the rehabilitation exercise and after all the processes are complete we hope to resume our work in March.
“We are looking at rehabilitating a further 36 kilometres of the road network where we are targeting major routes, which are mostly used by public transport operators.”