Local authorities have come under fire from the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) for allowing settlements in areas without serviced roads.
Addressing journalists yesterday, Zinara board chairperson George Manyaya expressed concern over the state of roads in some urban settlements.
“Despite efforts that we are making to fund the maintenance of our road infrastructure, we are aware of concerns that roads in some urban settlements have remained in a bad state, and it may appear like Zinara has turned a blind eye on them,” Manyaya said.
“Allow me to share with you that Zinara funds are only used on gazetted roads and most roads in new suburbs are not yet gazetted.”
He also flagged private developers for failing to fully service housing stands before construction commences, leaving essential amenities such as roads and sewer systems incomplete.
“The responsibility of constructing new roads remains a prerogative of respective road authorities through their internal budgets and other innovative initiatives,” he said.
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“We have also noted that some housing developers are not fully servicing stands to ensure that all amenities such as roads and sewer are in place before people start building their houses.”
Added Manyaya: “We, therefore, duly implore our local authorities to strictly supervise the housing developers to ensure that they deliver quality and completed projects to members of the public.”
He said there were ongoing government initiatives to revive maintenance units nationwide to urgently address road damages.
The Zinara board chairperson countered claims of a significant rise in motor vehicle population, citing figures from the Central Vehicle Registry department indicating that there are only 1,2 million registered vehicles with a mere 800 000 compliant in terms of licensing.
In the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023, Zinara reported that it collected ZWL$868 billion against a revised budget of ZWL768 billion.
Out of this, ZWL$536 billion was allocated to road-related commitments, with Zinara commending most local authorities for utilising the disbursed funds.