HIGHER and Tertiary Education minister Jonathan Moyo has said there is need for engineers specifically to deal with potholes because the current road engineers have failed to deal with deep holes that now characterise the country’s roads.
Appearing before parliamentary portfolio committee on Higher Education, Moyo said the road engineers have failed to provide solutions.
“We know that before (Science Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Stem there have been engineers, civil and actuarial engineers.
“But we take issue to their ability to provide solutions to obvious problems in society.
“It is not good enough to tell me there are civil engineers while there are potholes all over the place and nobody has come up with a local solution to a local problem.
“Stem emphasises on technological and engineering solutions. That has been missing. We need pothole engineers.”
The Zimbabwean roads have become dangerous for motorists, after they were badly damaged by the heavy rains currently pounding across the country, forcing Kasukuwere to declare them a state of disaster.
Recently, Transport minister Joram Gumbo said there are no roads to talk about in some parts of the country, as they have been completely washed away by the heavy rains currently being experienced.
Moyo’s sentiments also come as the Harare City Council (HCC) is considering constructing concrete roads this year.
The local authority’s acting town clerk, Josephine Ncube, recently said cement roads last longer, the materials are readily available and HCC had the capacity to use such technology.
Ncube said the pilot project will start with the Arcturus Road.
“There is, from a technical perspective, quite a justification to have cement roads rather than bitumen. Once Arcturus succeeds, we will spread it to other roads in the city,” she said.
Last year, Harare mayor Bernard Manyenyeni said residents should blame Zinara for the lack of road maintenance and repairs instead of council.
“Residents should focus their complaints on potholes and poor roads to Zinara and not HCC.
“We should be getting about $40 million per year from Zinara for road maintenance but they are only remitting $1 million, which is not enough for standard repairs,” he said.
As the roads across the country, including those in most urban towns, have been rendered impassable as a result of serious potholes, authorities have in the past been complaining that Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara) is failing to equally distribute the funds for the rehabilitation of the urban roads.
The Harare City Council expects between $40 million and $70 million per year in vehicle licence fees from Zinara, but the local authority claims it was on average getting $1 million only per year.WP
