SHARON NYAYA
MBERENGWA-Following the heavy rains that pounded the country recently Mberengwa-Mnene Road which had been condemned in 2020 has now become impassable and is now a threat to human life.
Since 2020 Mberengwa North (now Mberengwa Central) Member of Parliament Tafanana Zhou has been assuring residents that the road will be repaired as the money was allocated in the national budget but up until now nothing has been done and the road is now affecting trade and movement of people in the vast district.
Zhou said then that part of Mberengwa Mnene Road, about 5km stretch will be tarred under the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme Phase 1.
“Mberengwa- Mnene- Mataga road was allocated ZWL$200 million for the 5,5km tarred road and the works are progressing well,” said MP Zhou in July 2022 during Mberengwa projects updates.
The road is now a little stream and travelling along the road has become a nightmare for motorists as one is assured of visiting the mechanic soon after the trip.
“Maybe they are waiting for a serious accident to happen so that they take action. It’s been a while since our leaders were engaged about that road and there is still no progress. I think the best way is to completely close it because that road is a threat to human lives,” said one driver who plies the road on a daily basis.
Mberengwa RDC acting CEO, Percy Mwedzi said the council is not responsible for rehabilitating Mnene Road since it is under the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development.
“First and foremost the road we are talking about, its authority is department of roads under Ministry of Transport. However, we have engaged them and they have assured us they are now mobilising resources to repair the affected section,” he said.
Mberengwa District Development Coordinator Vafious Hlavati however said, that the gully will be filled in four days.
“We held a meeting on Tuesday with the Council, DDF and the Ministry of Transport over that issue and other roads across the entire administrative district. We unanimously agreed that the three road authorities should put resources together regardless of the responsible road authority, what we want to see is the accessibility of our roads.
“So the three road authorities have put resources together. Starting Monday 13 March 2023 that Mnene gully will be attended to and they promised me that they will need three to four days to mend that bad area,” said Hlavati.
