The ManicaPost
IN February this year, President Mnangagwa declared the country’s road network a state of disaster as most of the roads have become untrafficable following damage by heavy rains that were received across the country.
Government committed $33.6 billion towards the rehabilitation of 10 000kms of the country’s roads.
This was a welcome development considering the atrocious state of the roads, especially in urban areas.
Potholes or gullies were covering the length and breadth of most roads, thereby becoming a nightmare to both motorists and the public at large to navigate through them.
Some daring motorists created their own roads and endangered the lives of people in the process, especially schoolchildren as some of the new roads encroached into people’s yards.
Having realised the plight of residents, Government came up with the huge capital injection to resuscitate the roads.
This was, indeed, sweet news to the ears of many motorists who were bearing the brunt of regularly repairing the suspension system of their vehicles.
However, that joy appears to be likely short-lived due to the shoddy workmanship being displayed by some of the contractors tasked with this national duty of rehabilitating our roads.
After adopting the Building Back Better concept, Government and Zimbabweans expect the best from the rehabilitation work being carried out across the country.
In Mutare, barely four months after being rehabilitated, Kumbirai Kangai (Aerodrome) Road is already posing headaches to motorists.
The tarmac is melting under the scorching October temperatures, while some sections of the road are now littered with potholes.
The Dangamvura Link Road has also become infested with potholes, while the sign post indicating that some maintenance work was being carried out on the road did not last a week as it was brought down by wind.
Hitch-hikers to Dangamvura are now trampling the sign post and it may not come as a surprise to wake up one day and find the sign post vanished.
In Chipinge, the contractor failed to meet the given deadlines, and excuses after excuses were the order of the day.
Residents are livid and Transport and Infrastructure Development Minister, Honourable Felix Mhona, is also a disappointed man.
Under the Second Republic, there should be no room for shoddy work and cutting corners. Gone are the days of office bearers lining up their pockets at the expense of service delivery.
Heads should surely roll.
Those who short-change road authorities must face the music as Government does not have the luxury of pouring resources into a seamless hole.
We demand accountability because once a project is deemed completed, it should be in a better state compared to what it was before.
Due diligence must be done and those tasked with supervising the road rehabilitation work should leave the comfort of their air-conditioned offices and swivel chairs to be on the ground and supervise everything.
Where there is minimum or no supervision, people tend to sleep on duty, and it is the taxpayers who would continue carrying the burden of funding these projects.
Contractors should not bite more than what they can chew because many lives are being endangered on these roads.
‘Tenderprenuers’ should not be allowed to have their hands on these projects as they will do anything possible to have a big chunk of the cake at the expense of delivering on the tendered project.
All law enforcement agents should also sharpen their claws, and descend heavily on all those who loot these public resources.
For the economic recovery and infrastructure development efforts sustainable, a return to ‘business as usual’ and environmentally destructive investment patterns and activities must be avoided.
The Build Back Better mantra should be taken seriously as infrastructural development projects need to trigger investment, and behavioural changes that will reduce the likelihood of future shocks and increase society’s resilience to them when they occur.
Considering that the country is expecting normal to above normal rains, occasioned by natural phenomenon like cyclones and floods, we need to have roads that will withstand the vagaries of weather.
Brick by brick, stone by stone, we should all build a better Zimbabwe which we are proud of.
