Toll fees remain unchanged: Zinara
THE Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) will not increase toll fees, but will implement measures to minimise revenue leakages to channel more funds towards road projects in support of President Mnangagwa’s vision of making Zimbabwe an upper middle income economy by 2030, an official has said.
Zinara board chairman Engineer Michael Madanha told The Herald that a sound road network was key to achieving the ease of doing business.
“We are not going to hike toll fees or other related fees in the near future,” he said. “We are going to maintain the user fees that are currently applying until we reach a certain time when we deem it fit to adjust those prices.
“We are going to close all leakages that we have within the system so that we can collect as much money as possible to fund our road activities. The devaluation which is taking place is affecting us, but we have to counter it.”
Eng Madanha said there was going to be an increase in funds made available for road projects.
He said Zinara was concerned over the quality of roads being constructed by some companies contracted by local authorities.
Eng Madanha said some of the roads were collapsing within two years of construction and the road authority was going to monitor the projects to ensure that roads were designed to SADC standards.
Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Joel Biggie Matiza said the country could only achieve President Mnangagwa’s vision of making Zimbabwe an upper middle income economy by 2030 if it developed its road infrastructure and network to world class standards.
“In order to construct and maintain a road system that meets SADC standards, we all need to play our part,” he said.
“Road authorities should acquit funds disbursed to them timeously, in order to continually access more funding.
“Funds can only be disbursed if there is accountability by road authorities. In addition, road authorities should employ experts in the engineering department. This ensures that a quality product is produced at the end of the day.”
Minister Matiza said the work ethic of road authorities needed to change drastically because the new dispensation required responsive administrators who worked within timelines and delivered services to the people.