By Tinashe Karimazondo
The roads in the town of Chitungwiza, have become death traps with some sections of the road needing re-construction, as the tar has stripped off, potholes deepening and visible widening ditches on both tarred and gravel roads have virtually made it impassable for motorist. The incessant rains has worsened the situation for all roads. and the Chitungwiza Town Council said, the patching of the city’s roads will only commence after they Municipality receives funds from the Zinara.
“We have a program of works which is funded by finances coming from Zinara and the Ministry of Roads, when disbursed, we want to carry out pothole patching and drainage maintenance , we are yet to roll out this project since we have submitted all the necessary information,” Evangelista Machona the city’s acting Town Clerk told SlyMediaNews.
“As of now we are incapacitated in terms of equipment and road levy funds”.
Chitungwiza residents have bemoaned the poor state of roads saying there is need to address the problem as a matter of urgency as some of the roads have become impassable and recently they turned down a proposal by the Council to introduce a road levy on top of the current rates
In an interview with SlyMediaNews, one resident said, ‘they were not happy with the state of roads which have become deplorable and a death trap to both pedestrians and motorists. Most roads are littered with potholes that have grown deeper, worsened by the rain season”.
Tarisai Chikonyora said the roads are in need of rehabilitation as their vehicles are constantly breaking down due to potholes. “Spare parts are expensive, and the council should fix these roads, We are paying rates but the council is giving us a raw deal.”Â
Recently, Government declared all roads in the Country a State of Disaster in order to facilitate the release of funds for maintenance and repairs. The declaration paved way for the standardisation of quality roads under the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development.
Government said the restorative works will cover all urban areas as well as the rural trunk roads.
