BULAWAYO City Council needs US$700 million to rehabilitate its road network.
BY SILAS NKALA
During a recent full council meeting, ward 28 councillor Kidwell Mujuru queried why council was using gravel to refill potholes instead of tar. He said the potholes were contributing to accidents in the city.
Councillor Donaldson Mabuto added that 70% of the city’s roads were in a state of disrepair.
“A budget of more than US$700 million was needed to rehabilitate the city’s road network. The current economic situation had contributed negatively to service delivery. Council was trying to rehabilitate all the connecting roads,” council minutes read. Ward 1 councillor Mlandu Ncube said the number of vehicles in the city had increased and suggested that council creates a database of all the vehicles registered in the city.
Councillors said the Zimbabwe National Road Adminstration should allocate road maintenance funds using those statistics. The councillors also expressed concern over flash flooding in city suburbs last month as a result of poor maintenance of drainage systems.
“Councillor Frank Javangwe observed that a lot of stormwater drains were blocked. There was a lot of illegal dumping in these stormwater drains. Materials for use in clearing storm drains should be availed to community groups. Contracts for community groups clearing storm drains should be extended,” the minutes read.
“Alderman Clayton Zana also observed that recently, some parts of the city had experienced flash floods. This was an indication that not enough work had been done in clearing the storm drains. Community groups did not cover wider areas because of budget constraints and short contract periods.”
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The council stated that private developers in ward 27 should be effectively supervised.
“Pelandaba West had no storm drains and the stormwater affected some of the houses in ward 19, Pumula East,” the minutes read. The councillors encouraged residents to open up weeping holes on their security walls. Council said by-laws must be enforced to stop residents from dumping refuse in storm drains.
Councillor Mildred Ncube raised concern over the gaping holes which were left uncovered when pipe repairs were carried out. “These holes were a danger to residents during the rainy season. Residents were now dumping refuse in those holes,” the minutes read.
