Beatific Gumbwanda

CHIREDZI-Councilors have bemoaned the state of the just completed roads (Denhe, Magwaza and Molly) which were contracted to Tensor Systems by the local authority under the Emergency Roads Rehabilitation Program (ERRP) for poor workmanship citing that they have already started to develop potholes soon after completion.
There have been growing concerns from the communities over shoddy jobs by the Category ‘A’ construction companies that have been contracted on the second phase of the ERRP, including Fossil Contracting, over poor workmanship being exhibited on their construction works.
Debating during the recent full council meeting, councillors came guns blazing against the company which was contracted towards Denhe, Magwaza and Molly roads over its poor workmanship.
Speaking after the presentation of the Environment Committee report, chairperson of the Finance Committee Roger Chikonye posed a question on the criteria used to certify roads which he said from the layman’s views, were not properly done.
“I have a question, though it is not a reflection of the just presented report, what criteria is being used to certify these roads after the contractor has completed construction. Because there have been growing concerns from laymen perspectives that the roads are not up to standard,” said Chikonye.
Ward 4 councillor Liberty Macharaga also came in support of Cllr Chikonye that the type of materials compared from what was being used by Bitumen World on the Ngundu-Tanganda highway were far much different.
“This should be a matter of urgency. The quality of materials that were used on the construction of these roads are poor as compared to what Bitumen World is using on the highway. The stones are not even clinging with the tar,” said Macharaga.
Ropafadzo Makumire who was the Acting chairperson suggested for a separate meeting to deliberate fully on the matter as it was of public concern.
“We should convene a separate meeting to deliberate on these issues. This is a matter of public concern as the quality of work on some of these roads is very worrisome. Even a laymen can tell that the road was not professionally done,” added Makumire.
Acting Town Secretary Engineer Wesley Kauma said the roads were inspected and the contractor was given key areas to look on meaning they are yet to pass.
“The first monitoring visit was contacted and some areas which need corrections were noted. The contractor will soon revisit and correct the areas noted before the second inspection comes. So in general the roads are not yet certified. More so after the inspections, the contractor will be closely monitoring the roads for a year for its durability,” said Kauma.
Meanwhile Fossil Contracting was ordered to re-do some parts of Lion Drive around Chigarapasi after it developed potholes, hours after it was opened to traffic.

Tendai Charumbira

Suspension of lending by banking institutions, building societies, development finance institutions is likely to fuel an already grown unemployment rate as some of the lending institutions are closing down business as a result of suspension of their activities by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) on May 9.
In an interview with TellZim News, chairperson and director of Theo Cash Capital Tamuka Mutinhima said the indefinite suspension has affected them as lending is their everyday business and as a result they are going to close their business.
“The suspension of lending institutions has affected us to the last point because lending is our core business there is no way we can survive, so we are going to close shops. As for our employees, it means they are going to lose their jobs because will we not have the money to pay them their salaries,” said Mutinhima
Success Microfinance Bank Masvingo operations officer Farai Gamira said the directive by RBZ affected them as their business is mainly focused on loans so by suspending lending, they have killed the business itself as most of the revenue comes from interest income.
“It is affecting us because our business is mainly dominated with loans, so by suspending they have suspended the live blood of the bank as major activities of the bank include lending and most of revenue from banks comes from lending. As it stands we don’t have anything,” said Gamira.
He added that they are waiting for the RBZ to tell them on what to do next whether to continue or they should stop as they believe that more lending is leading to high exchange rates.
“We are now waiting for the RBZ to give us further directives and inform us whether we should continue with business or we close as they believe that more lending is leading to high exchange rates on the streets,” he added.
Donald Chikwira, branch manager of CJ kitchens said that as they are failing to understand the decision as they (RBZ) are using a lot of jargon in their communications.
“It’s all speculative at the moment as they are using a lot of jargons people are failing to understand how it is going to work yet there is no Statutory Instrument to regulate that,” said Chikwira.
However, a worker at one company that sells goods on credit said that the suspension of lending is not going to affect them as they also sell their products on cash.
“If the issue of trading in credit is blocked as is the case right now, that will not be major problem to us as we can always revert to cash sales on our products as an alternative,” said the employee who chose to be anonymous.
The indefinite decision by government through RBZ came hot on the heels of high levels of inflation destabilising most businesses that out of panic resorted to marking prices in foreign currency even on locally-produced goods leaving the general populace in quandary.

Melinda Kusemachibi

The water situation in Chikarudzo in Masvingo Central constituency continues to be dire, as most villagers are resorting to use of unprotected wells as an alternative to borehole water which has become scarce.
A number of communities have been struggling to access water and have resorted to queuing at a few available boreholes with some using unprotected wells.
Speaking at Padare naMambo Mugabe, a programme organized by TellZim News in partnership with ZIMCODD on April 29, 2022 where women and various village heads engaged Chief Mugabe born Matubede Mudavanhu on developmental projects as well as management of local resources, villagers bemoaned on lack of adequate safe water sources.
“A lot of people from the community use one borehole which is at a school and it is difficult for all villagers to use one source of water since there are many people in the area. We are appealing to government to have at least two boreholes so that we can have access to clean water,” said one participant.
Another participant also said the borehole that was only the source of water broke down a long time ago and they resorted to using unprotected wells while at the same time lack of adequate water is affecting the dip tank as they do not have water to use at the facility.
“The only borehole that we had in our area broke down a long time ago. We are appealing to the responsible authorities to have at least a borehole which serves Jadeson, Ganyamatope and Mugwini so that we have water in our area. Again, our dip tank at Chikarudzo is not working. It is not because of poor infrastructure, but it is because of water to be used for dipping.
“In the gardens nearby, there is water but we do not have a trench to connect to the dip tank. People have no access to that water as sometimes owners of the gardens will not allow them to do so,” added one participant.
The other participant also said water available at a local school borehole is contaminated hence not safe for humans.
“The water at the school again is not safe to drink because it changes to brownish color once it has been poured into a bucket,” said one woman.
The water woes keep mount at a time when government has embarked on the Presidential Borehole Drilling Scheme, which was said will put water problems to rest.

…while Zupco remains incapacitated

Rutendo Chirume

Masvingo Central Business District (CBD) witnessed a high traffic jam as passengers struggled to get transport to go home after the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) heavily monitored the streets arresting unauthorized transport operators offering services to commuters in an operation code named “respect other road users”.
On May 4, 2022 at around 1900hours, there were hundreds of people at Glow pick up point struggling to get transport since the Zupco buses and kombis knocked off earlier leaving hoards of stranded commuters stuck in town.
Speaking to TellZim News Masvingo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Kudakwashe Dhewa said the operation has always been there and if Zupco is incapacitated, they should be answerable since police will be doing their job.
“We will remain on the ground targeting motorists who are not supposed to be ferrying passengers in the operation against Mushika shika. They know that they are not authorized to operate and we only want to see Zupco transport. They are unlawful and they know what is supposed to be done. There is nothing new, we are simply doing our jobs and yesterday is no exception. If Zupco is incapacitated that is their call to answer,” said Dhewa.
A Zupco franchised kombi driver (who refused to be named) said they work according to the provided timetable and as such there is nothing they can do within their capacities because they work on order.
“It is not a secret that there is transport crisis in the city and the kombis and buses available are few to cater for all the people, but there is nothing we can do because we have a scheduled time that we work with. Our buses usually leave the streets around 1830 to 1900 hours and by that time most of the people will be still in town and we would have already knocked off at work,” he said.
A taxi driver who declined to be named said most of these illegally operating vehicles are allegedly being run by police and soldiers and they will continue to pirate as long as they will be sharing good relations with the police on duty.
“Yesterday the police were a little bit hard on us but we are used to all this, we have been playing hide and seek for a long time now. We know the police are benefitting from us, after getting arrested, we are supposed to pay ZWL$ 2000 fine but on top of that each vehicle on Mushika shika pays extra US$ 3 which the police use for their own benefits and allow us to pirate in return. Times are hard and it is where we are also making our living, where do they expect us to go? The economy is bad and there are no jobs in the country,” said the taxi driver.
On a recent statement released by the police, it was mentioned that the public should work with the police during the on-going operation against pirate taxis and unregistered cars as the operation will be continuing countrywide.
Meanwhile National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said the ZRP is investigating circumstances leading to the death of four people while eight were injured along Mutare-Vumba road as police enforced the operation.
“The ZRP is investigating circumstances in which a Toyota Hiace kombi went through a police checkpoint along Vumba-Mutare road. The vehicle had a left tyre burst after the roadblock and it overturned before landing on a precast at CMED Mutare Depot this morning at 7 am.
“As a result, four people died while eight others were injured. The police are now conducting investigations to establish what actually in this sad and unfortunate incident,” he said in a statement shared on microblogging site, Twitter.