Cowdray Park’s Ward 6 residents face flooding due to shoddy road construction rushed through by Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube before the 2023 elections, a local councillor revealed.
Speaking at a full council meeting held recently, Ward 6 councillor Nkosinathi Hove-Mpofu said the incomplete drainage system along the road adopted for rehabilitation by Ncube is now diverting water to the nearby houses whenever it rains.
Last year, Ncube who was campaigning on a ZANU-PF ticket embarked on several projects including road construction and rehabilitation as part of his vote-buying strategy.
However, Councilor Hove-Mpofu said some residents have been forced to desert their houses due to the effects of incomplete projects.
“I want to understand from the department of roads, in Cowdray Park there is a road which was being constructed by the government if I am sure, that road is incomplete, where it ended, drainages were not done, so all the water flowing from the road is now flowing directly to residential houses,” he said.
“The roads department tried to fix that, but they couldn’t manage to fix the whole stretch because maybe there was no urgency for it to be fixed.”
Clr Hove-Mpofu added, “People have already deserted their houses, they are now renting somewhere, the houses are empty because there is that threat. My appeal is that we visit the area as a council so that when I raise this issue here, everyone will be aware of what I am talking about.”
The councillor also noted that the rains were affecting residents whose houses were built in a swampy area and called on the local authority to act on a previous resolution to have the affected residents moved to another area.
In addition, Proportional Representation Councilor Metelliah Matunha also concurred that the roads in Ward 6 were in a bad state adding that the houses were also constructed haphazardly.
“I will concur with the ward councillor, what he is saying is true, firstly those houses we constructed haphazardly. A life was recently lost after a child fell into a pit into a pit where they get pit sand,” she said.
In response, the Chairperson of the Engineering Committee Councillor Royini Sekete said the ruling party did not consult the local authority when they embarked on the projects.
“That road was constructed during the campaign period, so this other party was trying to lure voters, so it didn’t consult the relevant authority of the council who normally does road construction up to standard.”
