By Bevan Musoko
Despite spirited efforts by various Government agencies to open up Cyclone Idai damaged roads for search, rescue efforts, efficient and timeous distribution of aid, several roads in Chimanimani and Chipinge districts remain impassable due to the massive damage by the ferocious cyclone.
While the Ministry of Transport, ZDF, District Development Fund (DDF) and the local Councils have deployed equipment to clear damaged roads, the scale of the damage has slowed down the rehabilitation process.
At the moment, the Chipinge-Jopa-Skyline main road has been the main artery through which Chimanimani has been accessed. The ZDF has been active in clearing the road which lost several bridges to the cyclone. Trucks delivering aid and other administrative functions are being facilitated through this road.
Another operational road is the Chipinge-Southdowns-Clearwater-Kopa road. It is through this gravel road that all aid to Rusitu Valley is being channelled.
The Kopa-Vimba road in Ward 22, where four bridges were swept away, is currently impassable. This has resulted in the use of expensive helicopters for food aid air drops and in some cases, the villagers have to travel to Kopa for aid. The Kopa-Kurwaisimba road was also damaged that it is currently unmotorable.
Part of the Wengezi-Chimanimani road has been rehabilitated, save for portions of the road at Muusha Primary School which are yet to be attended. Similarly, the Machongwe-Rusitu-Kurwaisimba road is not yet motorable.
The challenge of the impassable roads was presented to the Deputy Minister of Defence and War Veterans Affairs, Cde Victor Matemadanda, during his assessment tour of the affected areas on Monday. The Deputy Minister acknowledged the challenge and promised to ensure provision of both material and financial resources to facilitate the rehabilitation processes.
In an interview with Harare Post, the co-Director of aid distribution at Silverstream, Christine Chideme, also bemoaned the challenge of poor accessibility of some areas due to the massive damage to road infrastructure. She pointed out that full rehabilitation of the roads may take time due to the scale of the damage.
Similarly, Christian Aid Country Director, Nicholas Shamano, indicated that his organisation's plans to bring in aid using heavy trucks to Kopa are being hampered by the damaged and narrow Chipinge-Southdowns-Clearwater road.
The appeal is for various co-operating partners to also partner Government in infrastructure rehabilitation, over and above food aid and other materials support.
