Council to repair a measly 1,5km on roads in Greendale

Diana Nherera Suburban Reporter

The City of Harare says it intends to rehabilitate a measly 1,5 kilometres on roads in Greendale out of an expected 50km from its Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara) allocation of ZWL$34billion to the local authority for the whole city.

Speaking at a Greendale Residents and Ratepayers Association (GRRA) feedback meeting held last week, Mr Maxwell Sauramba, the City of Harare superintendent (roads department) said council was supposed to carry out routine maintenance on at least 50km from Highlands and Greendale.

“It is our intention to, if funds permit, to rehabilitate out of the seven kilometres, 1,5km.

“We are supposed to be doing about at least 50km from Highlands and Greendale as routine maintenance but we have a tight budget on our roads,” he said.

Mr Sauramba said most of the materials used for road repairs and maintenance are imported.

“And we are not allocated US dollars from Zinara neither from City of Harare.

“Those are the main challenges with roads,” he said.

Mr Sauramba said the city intends to repair 17 km on roads in Harare from the ZWL$34bn allocated.

“Our infrastructure I think is 6 400km. That already causes a deadlock,” he said.

The City of Harare roads official said they will prioritise connector roads such as Liberation Legacy Way (formerly Borrowdale Road) and Arcturus Road.

“Then we go to main roads, that’s how we choose,” he said.

Mr Sauramba said the materials cost about US$300 per tonne which cover about 17 square metres and some residents are buying the needed materials for council to patch potholes.

“In Greendale, they have proposed (to prioritise) Rhodesville Avenue, Greendale Avenue and Pringle Road,” he said.

The city is negotiating with residents on the repairs for Cunningham Road.

“They (residents) are intending to do that and they have since submitted a quotation to that effect. We are going to contribute the gravel, labour and the truck.”

Ward 9 Councillor Prince Mutebuka urged residents to come together and try and solve challenges in their neighbourhoods.

“But the challenge with roads is that they are expensive (to maintain), it might be difficult for us to contribute,” he said.

GRRA member Mr Canaan Mugayi said Wilson Road to Athlone Shopping Centre is in a terrible state and requested for gravel at least.

Former Harare East Member of Parliament Mr Allan Markham said he brought up the issue with the city town clerk Engineer Hosiah Chisango.

Cllr Mutebuka urged Mr Sauramba to make a commitment on when they can get gravel for Wilson Drive and Greengrove Road.

Mr Sauramba said they are supposed to attend to the drainage system first which is going through properties. “Even if you put gravel now, with these rains, it will be washed away,” he said.

Giving an update on water, Mr Felix Marodza from the City of Harare’s water department said Greendale usually gets water during weekends.

“We start pumping from Letombo from Friday evening up to Sunday because what we produce cannot meet demand.

“So we do what we call demand management.

“From Monday to Friday, we pump into Alex side which feeds areas like Dzivarasekwa, the city centre up to Hatcliffe.

“From Friday to Monday to morning, we concentrate on the Letombo side so we pump our water from Morton Jaffray, Warren Control then to Letombo.

“From Letombo we then pump to Greendale.

“So some people start receiving as we start to pump to Greendale.

“Usually we start on Saturday afternoon,” he said.

Mr Marodza said the city is usually supposed to supply water for up to two or three days a week depending on the area.

“Some receive after it has gone into the reservoir, some receive as we pump to the reservoir, so usually our supply days are from Saturday up to Monday, Tuesday at most depending on the level of the reservoir.”

The water official urged residents who have not received water for a long time to report to council.

“Because sometimes those who don’t receive, it’s not because water is not coming. It may be blockage along the distribution pipes,” said Mr Marodza.

Importing water purification chemicals is being affected by lack of foreign currency, Mr Marodza told the meeting.

“So usually we don’t have large stocks of chemicals,” said Mr Marodza.