Transport and Infrastructural Development ministry secretary Theodius Chinyanga Thursday said has most of the country’s road network and bridges have outlived their lifespan, and are now a threat to the public.
Chinyanga made the remarks in a presentation at the Africa Infrastructure and Construction Confex at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF).
The theme of the two-day conference was: Solid Foundation Stronger Future: Exploring Linkages in the Infrastructure Value Chain. Chinyanga is quoted by the Southern Eye as saying:
Zimbabwe boasts a road network length of some 98,049km; 25,034km — District Development Fund; 18,431km — Department of Roads; 40,205km — Rural District Councils; 11,333km — Urban Local Authorities 3,046km — unclassified. Several roads and bridges along the country’s road network have since outlived their design life.
Constricted fiscal space has limited Government spending on road maintenance, resulting in a huge road maintenance backlog.
Road Development has been slow, leading to a huge road infrastructure backlog. The 2016/17 Road Condition and Inventory Survey showed that only 25% of the entire road network was in a good to very good condition.
The remarks come as the government is already implementing the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (ERRP) which was launched in 2021 after President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared the country’s roads a national disaster.
The Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (ZINARA) has distributed an estimated $6 billion to all provinces and local authorities for road maintenance under ERRP in the first quarter of the year.
Zinara said it was setting aside $17 billion for the ERRP this year.
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You’d think that those rip-off tollgates would’ve contributed to the R & M required, but as usual, that money’s been squandered. Those gates are outright theft in any case, as there are no toll-free alternatives. Still, there’s a lot out there who’ve been stupid enough to keep zpf in place, done nothing to get credible, viable opposition in place, and now there’s much bleating, due to either voter stupidity and indifference, and the fact that none of you citizens have done anything to stop the rot since 1985!
If that’s the case, why the hell didn’t zpf DO SOMETHING about it, decades ago? You lot have been stupid enough to keep them in power, (ok. they did have a secret weapon this time around, namely that mouthy, stupid idiot chamisa, who was solely intent in keeping its damn perch on a bench intact), but for the rest, there’s no excuse! It’s 42 years later, and you’ve done nothing to give change a fighting chance! Who is really to blame here?