Vandalism dims Airport Road outlook
JOSHUA Mqabuko Nkomo Road, which had become the envy of locals and visitors to the country due to its wide and well maintained tarmac and solar- powered street lights, is slowly losing its lustre as most of the lights are no longer functional.
This is particularly noticeable in the evening as most parts of the road will be dark, posing danger to motorists, especially those that experience breakdowns during the night.
The non-functioning of the lights has blighted progress that has been made in marketing the country and Harare to visitors.
The lights, managed by Harare City Council and its partners Med Lighting and PriMedia, have been giving inbound visitors to the country, especially those who fly into country through Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport at night their first impression of the city and nation.
Council’s corporate communications manager Mr Michael Chideme, however, blamed the state of affairs on vandalism.
He said the replacement of the streets lights was work in progress.
“Replacement of non-functional solar lights along Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Road and in the capital at large is work in progress. We are in partnership with companies that are supposed to recoup their investments through advertising on the street lights poles, but our biggest challenge has been theft and vandalism of the solar panels and batteries,” he said.
Mr Chideme said they had engaged the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) to assist in ensuring safety of the lights along that road.
“Despite efforts being put, vandalism of the lights has been a major setback. For that reason, we are in continuous discussions with the police so that they can contain the safety of that road.
“Also our partner has also set up a surveillance team at the road to monitor that area,” he said.
As at November last year, 1 160 solar street lights had been installed across the city. However, it was not immediately clear how many streets lights had been vandalised and those replaced at the time of going to print.
Meanwhile, the local authority also earlier this year, suspended the installation of solar traffic lights due to vandalism and theft.
Director of Works Engineer Isaiah Chawatama reported that out of 35 intersections that had solar back-up, only 20 were still functional.
The 20 were located in the CBD, which has heavy traffic hence vandalism and theft is minimal and those that have been interfered with were the ones in the city’s peripheries.