…Policy makers fume over shoddy job
Brighton Chiseva
ZAKA – People, mainly motorists in Jerera are furious over the delay in the resurfacing and tarring of the 1.8 km stretch along the busy road which links the growth point and Anthony’s Musiso Mission hospital and schools.
No meaningful development has been registered since the road whose construction is believed to be bankrolled by Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara) was closed late last year prompting many to think it’s another case of corruption where tenders are given to incompetent and ill equipped contractors.
When the road was closed last year for the work to commence, it was expected to be officially opened on March 31, 2022.
However, half of the work has not been done though it’s close to five months and the local authority is now expecting it to be completed in less than a month.
When contacted for comment local (ward 19) councillor Peter Imbayarwo said everyone was worried by the pace at which the work is progressing saying the contractor returned recently after a long time but the pace is very slow.
He said motorists are complaining about the detour which they said was too long and the road is very bad especially when transporting pregnant women and other serious patients to Musiso which is one of the referral hospitals in the district.
“The contractor is slow, he was given the tender last year but nothing much has been done so far, we once raised the issue in a full council meeting but there is still no progress. Motorists are complaining of the detour which they said is bad and too long,” said Imbayarwo.
One motorist who spoke to TellZim News said they wanted to stage a demo at council offices over the matter saying the detour is very long and in very bad shape.
“We wanted to demonstrate, we shelved the demo after we saw the contractor coming back but we are monitoring the progress, if they continue with the slow pace we will demonstrate. The detour is times two the normal distance and the road is in very bad state to Musiso Hospital such that our vehicles are damaged.
“The road is critical, we can no longer rush critical patients to the hospital because of the state of the detour, we implore council to at least resurface the detour and make sure that the road is completed as soon as possible,” said the motorist.
Local Member of Parliament (MP) Davison Svuure confirmed about the purported demo and said he was equally frustrated with the pace which the road maintenance is taking.
“They wanted to demonstrate but I stopped them saying since the contractor is back at the site, we have to wait a bit.
“I however don’t think the contractor has the capacity or competence to pull up the tender he got. He does not even have enough equipment on the ground and at some point I saw some young boys using shovels and picks to make culverts, a thing that should be done within minutes using modern equipment. Who in this era construct a road using shovels? I really don’t know if he was the best person whom they picked for the contract,” said Svuure.
He went on to say he is in constant touch with the local authority over the issue doing his over sight role.
“I am in constant touch with council authorities over the road, a lot of people are complaining and we want it to be completed as soon as possible to make life easier for us all,” said Svuure.
Zaka Rural District Council (RDC) chairperson Cornelius Mapuranga said as councillors they are also worried by the level of incompetence shown by the contractor saying they are not serious.
“The contractor seem not to be serious at all, I think he has no equipment, usually contractors are awarded tenders for work they cannot do relying on others and that’s where challenges emanate from,” said Mapuranga.
He went on to say they gave him the tender after recommendations from the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe, (PRAZ) saying they didn’t even know if he had enough equipment.
“We don’t know the capacity of a contractor when we give tenders, we submit applications to PRAZ and we get recommendations from there. So that is what we did and I think we got the wrong contractor,” added Mapuranga.
He blamed the contractor of doing a shoddy job on gravelling which they ended up forcing him to redo after engineers from the Head Office of Ministry of local Government, Public works and National Housing, said the type of gravel he was using was not compactible.
“The contractor had gravelled a bigger part of the road and we asked for engineers from the Head Office who took samples and tested the gravel and concluded that it was not compatible with the type of soil. We then asked him to redo, but he wanted more money for that which we refused as it was his fault,” said Mapuranga.
Zaka RDC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) David Batsirai Majaura confirmed the damages on the detour road saying it was supposed to be maintained by council and currently their grader was out.
“We are supposed to maintain the detour road but now our grader is working somewhere and the road was damaged by the rains we received recently,” said Majaura.
On issue of the road, Majaura said they expect it to be complete by end of this month (May) and apologised on behalf of the contractor saying work was stalled by the rains.
“The works were affected by some heavy rains that were sometimes received during the rainy season. As a local authority, we want to apologize to our road users for the delay on completion of this road. The heavy rains have resulted into many technical issues which took some time to resolve but currently all issues are resolved and works have resumed,”
“The contractor has successfully completed sub-grade and one layer of gravel. There are some areas which need three layers as per our laboratory recommendations and the contractor has already started working on the second gravel layer. Stockpiling of gravel for these works was done. He is also working on the drainage system where three main culverts were constructed,” said Majaura.
He disputed the allegations that the contractor had already been paid all the money saying he is paid on stages and so far he had received only one part payment.
“The contractor has only received one part payment upon presentation of laboratory test results of the first layer. Other payments will be done when his works are competed and passed the laboratory tests. Most surfacing materials have already been procured and delivered to council offices by the contractor. The project is now expected to be completed by the end of May 2022,” he added.
Majaura said council was also working on the construction and repair of culverts throughout the district with two major culverts having already been repaired along Chivamba- Svuure road while six more were constructed along Musenyereki-Njiva road.
He said work on Chivamba Business Centre drainage system will start this month while there is great progress on the construction of Gunguvo School Culvert.
