Suburban
THE City of Harare reportedly did shoddy road repairs in Sunridge which have left residents fuming.
Diana Nherera Suburban Reporter
According to residents, council workers used gravel instead of tar to patch potholes on Broughton Road last week.
Residents wondered why council was using gravel on Broughton Road when it used tar on other roads in Mabelreign.
The residents asked Ward 16 Councillor Denford Ngadziore the criteria being used for selecting roads that will get repairs using tar.
One of the residents said they were disturbed to find out that gravel had been used to repair Broughton Road.
“Please enlighten us on this. What criteria is used to decide which roads get proper tarmac fixes and which get destroyed by mountain rock fixes because there are many roads in Mabelreign that get proper road fixes but we have to accept these regressive solutions over and over again as if it’s 1959,” said the resident.
Sunridge residents also complained about the current state of Glencairn Road.
“Glencairn looks horrible right now.
“Someone just decided they were done after digging all kinds of trenches around it.
“We are not clapping hands for this.
“This sucks.
“Stop making things worse for us when they can be better.
“Do better please,” said another resident.
The residents said they cannot wait to see Harare West Member of Parliament Joana Mamombe and Councillor Ngadziore’s campaigns when they seek re-election in the general elections scheduled for August.
This was after Cllr Ngadziore failed to respond to residents as he had promised.
“I can’t wait to watch Harare West and Ward 16 candidates seek re-election. I honestly can’t wait,” said a resident.
Contacted for comment, Cllr Ngadziore said council is facing serious tar shortages.
“This is because of the Zinara allocation, so sometimes we resort to gravel but this is not a permanent solution.
“The solution is to have tarred roads in Harare.
“Gravel sometimes causes such things as siltation,” he said.
Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume, in his end of first quarter report presented last week, said insufficient funding for road maintenance remains a challenge.
He said no progress was reported on the construction of new roads and reconstruction of old ones.
“During the first quarter of the year, we had a meeting with the ZINARA board chairman and his team and I expressed our displeasure over the formula for the disbursement of the ZINARA grant and delays in the actual payout of the funds.
“We agreed that ZINARA would convene a meeting with all road authorities to discuss these critical issues and we are still waiting for the platform so that this problem can be addressed for the benefit of citizens,” Cllr Mafume said in the report.
Residents also requested Clllr Ngadziore to organise the cleaning up of Sunridge Shopping Centre which is infested with all manner of dirt ranging from human waste, used condoms, litter and empty beer bottles dumped by revellers at the bars.
“Can you request City of Harare cleaners to come and clean the growth point area for a change?
“We can’t continue to be inconvenienced since it’s City of Harare who agreed to have this growth point near our houses.
“Seeing drunkards’ poo, condoms, food containers, empty bottles, toilet paper is not fair to us residents as we await the growth point to be closed.
“I bet you that the cleaners won’t like to return there, it’s awful.
“The environment is being polluted left, right and centre. We are the most miserable residents in Zimbabwe,” said a resident.
The residents have also requested for a skip bin at the shopping centre.
“It will not serve the shopping centre only but locals too. I think it’s a permanent solution to littering.
“It’s a business area which needs a separate solution. Burning causes pollution. Everything lies in the hands of council,” observed a resident.
