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Sifundiso Ndlovu Chronicle Reporter
RURAL district councils have slammed the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) over irregular allocations that they receive for the construction and maintenance of roads.The councils also criticised the roads authority for not consulting them before buying equipment saying some of the purchases, such as graders, were expensive to service and maintain.

Speaking during the Association of Rural District Councils of Zimbabwe (ARDCZ) sixth congress held in Bulawayo yesterday, Rodgers Mozhentiy, the organisation’s secretary general, said the working relationship between Zinara and councils was a major issue that the new association’s congress needs to deal with.

Marondera Rural District Council chairman Patrick Chidakwa concurred saying they were not happy with Zinara’s operations.

“We want to be consulted as councils. We received graders which are expensive to maintain and consume twice the amount of fuel compared to our old graders.

“We also do not understand the method they use to determine allocations,” he said.

Chidakwa said due to the irregular allocations, rural district councils were unable to plan and implement their projects.

“We now face difficulties in revenue collection after vehicle licensing was taken away from local authorities. Irregular allocations worsen the situation” he said.

Zinara Technical Director Engineer Moses Juma dismissed the rural district councils claims saying they service and maintain the graders.
He added that as far as they were concerned there was no conflict with the rural councils as no complaint was raised at a recent meeting.

“As far as we are concerned there is no discord between us and the rural councils because we met with their engineers who use this equipment and they  gave us the specifications.

“I think it’s just that information is failing to cascade down to the councillors,” said Juma.

Zinara collects road user charges that include toll fees, road transit fees, abnormal load fees, fuel levy and vehicle licence fees.