Urban spruce up plan must spread across the country
The government is sprucing up Harare roads in a last-ditch attempt to give the capital a much-needed fresh look ahead of next month’s Sadc summit.
It has also taken over some services that are normally under the City of Harare such as waste management, public transport management and road rehabilitation on the basis that the local authority has no capacity to undertake such projects.
They are not taking over these services for free. The government will recover the expenses when it releases devolution funds.
The rehabilitation works have given Harare a fresh look. However, it is coming at a cost.
The revamp, which appears to be a last minute rush, has birthed traffic congestion with motorists spending two to three hours on a trip that would last under 45 minutes before the road rehabilitation programme.
This means productive hours are lost in congestion. The commuting public is forced to walk for about 5km to avoid congestion to and from work.
The contractors that are working on the roads are taking ages, amid claims they are protesting the late payment. Government is known for delaying payment to contractors which has hampered their operations. Some contractors have packed their machinery, abandoning projects.
The rush to rehabilitate the roads is pointing to one thing: failure to plan.
