The Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Development, Felix Mhona says the government is seized with rehabilitating the Bulawayo-Tsholotsho and Bulawayo-Nkayi roads in Matabeleland North which are in a deplorable state.
The state of the roads in the province is so bad that some public transport operators have suspended services due to the damage o their vehicles.
At some point, Nkayi villagers in Matabeleland North province were threatened with starvation as the department of social welfare failed to deliver maize to the district due to the bad state of Bulawayo-Nkayi road.
The 158km road stretching from Bulawayo to Nkayi Centre has been in a deplorable state for decades with the government dithering on the much-needed rehabilitation.
In the case of Tsholotsho, transport operators now opt to use the long meandering route via Solusi Road to try and skirt the dilapidated Nyamandlovu Road.
Responding to a Member of Parliament (MP) who had asked a question on the Government’s policy with regards to the Bulawayo-Tsholotsho Road and the plans put in place to get the road tarred, Minister Mhona said the rehabilitation is being done phases under the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme.
“Phase one was the issue to do with emergency works which we have currently done. We are now seized with phases two and three where we are talking of major roads and trunk roads,” he said.
“You find that not necessarily the one that you have talked about Bulawayo-Tsholotsho, but we also have Bulawayo-Nkayi and those are some of the roads that we are seized with now in terms of procurement to make sure that we correct the state of those roads.”
