By Staff Writer
Following the incessant rains that have resulted in excessive damage to the road infrastructure network countrywide, President Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday declared a State of Disaster in all rural and urban areas in the country.
For the duration of this declaration, the Department of Roads takes over the rehabilitation and construction of major roads in urban local authorities to expedite maintenance and repair works with Provincial Road Engineers superintending over all roads within their respective provinces.
In an SI 47 of 2021 carried in a government gazette yesterday, President Mnangagwa promulgated the civil protection notice and authorized the national roads authority, ZINARA, to source funding on the market in advance in lieu of the revenues that are yet to be allocated by Treasury.
“In terms of section 27(2) of the Civil Protection Act [Chapter 10:06], His Excellency, the President hereby declares a State of Disaster on rural and urban road infrastructure network in Zimbabwe.”
To ensure quick connectivity and resumption of normal community activities in the various provinces of the country, the notice said road rehabilitation work would be done in three phases.
According to the notice, there would be emergency road works, which focuses on preserving current road infrastructure network and ensure the roads are in a safe condition for travellers and this encompass the rehabilitation of the drainage system and pothole patching particularly in the major trunk roads, and this is expected to be complete within sixty days.
The second phase is set to focus on preventive road works. This consists of preventive periodic and scheduled periodic maintenance works and rehabilitation of failed sections of the road infrastructure network, and this includes resealing, overlays and re-gravelling, and this work is expected to take six months to complete.
The last phase is set to be rehabilitation and reconstruction of major structures and other road infrastructure networks. The third phase focuses on major rehabilitation as well as reconstruction of rain damaged drainage structures like dams, bridges and roads, and this work is expected to last between 12 to 18 months.
The assumption of road works by Government comes as huge relief for motorists who had long complained of the worsening state of roads owing to MDC-run local authorities’ ineptitude in road maintenance.
