Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has put road regravelling on hold as it focuses its available resources on the rehabilitation of Lobengula Street, according to council minutes.
The decision has raised concerns among councillors over the deteriorating condition of roads in their wards, with some calling for regravelling work to resume before the rainy season.
Ward 14 Councillor Dumisani Netha said the city had gone for some time without regravelling roads and questioned how revenue from the parking management system was being used.
Netha said the parking revenue should support road rehabilitation and maintenance. He also asked for an update on a proposed batching plant that council plans to procure through a partnership with Tendy Three Investments (TTI).
On this topic
Ward 29 Councillor Royini Sekete called on the Works Department to prioritise regravelling requests submitted by councillors.
“I urge the Department to give priority to road regravelling requests submitted by Councillors in order to improve the condition of roads within their respective wards,” said Sekete.
Acting Director of Works Engineer Methuseli Dibidi said regravelling had been suspended while the council concentrated on the Lobengula Street project.
He said council was working towards a specific project target after receiving machinery from a donor, prompting the city to redirect available resources to the project for the next two weeks.
Dibidi said limited funding also affected the implementation of council projects, with delays in paying contractors sometimes resulting in suspended work.
On the proposed batching plant, Eng Dibidi said the public-private partnership process was awaiting approval from the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA).
He said council had submitted the required documents but ZIDA had requested additional information before considering the application.
Dibidi said revenue from the parking management system was ring-fenced for road works in the central business district.
The money had been used for projects including the procurement of concrete barriers, asphalt batching and laying, resurfacing and other road infrastructure improvements.
He said the proposed batching plant would increase council’s capacity to carry out road maintenance and rehabilitation beyond the CBD.
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