Kwekwe frets over Zinara funds delays

KWEKWE City Council has raised concern over the delay by the Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (ZINARA) to disburse funds for road maintenance.

Speaking during a full council meeting at Town House recently, Kwekwe Mayor Mr Matenda Madzoke said council had since written a letter of complaint through the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Dr Joram Gumbo.

“As a local authority, we are still to receive a dime from them (ZINARA) though they keep promising that they will give us the funds,” he said. “It looks like in the Midlands, Gweru is the only local authority that benefits from the funds.”

Mr Madzoke said Government should consider handing back the collection of transport levy direct to local authorities without going via ZINARA.

“Government should reconsider giving the road maintenance levy to the local authorities,” he said. “As councils, we own the roads and we can avail funds for road rehabilitation timeously.”

Mr Madzoke said Kwekwe would continue lobbying for the move through the Urban Councils Association of Zimbabwe (UCAZ).

“We raised the issue during the UCAZ conference and it seemed we were not the only ones affected,” he said.

Town Clerk Mr Emmanuel Musara said Kwekwe relied entirely on ZINARA funds for road rehabilitation and they were yet to receive funding.

“They promised us $1 million that we are yet to receive, and we have engaged them saying that we engage private contractors who use their resources and they get refunded by ZINARA,” he said. “That seemed as the only way to make them release the funds.”

Mr Musara said Kwekwe’s roads, which required $15 million for rehabilitation, were so old that they did not require resealing, but to be redone. He said council was operating on a shoestring budget and would use available resources to rehabilitate major roads that link the CBD to residential areas, which are in a poor state