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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter

THE Victoria Falls City Council has purchased a grader as the local authority strives to replace old equipment and capacitate its engineering department to rehabilitate roads.

The local authority has been under attack from residents who are concerned about poor service delivery especially bad roads and lack of storm water drains which have been causing flash floods in residential areas.

Some roads around the city have developed potholes while some gravel roads in Mkhosana and Aerodrome have not been rehabilitated for a long time.

In Mkhosana some roads are impassable because of water logging.

Council has said it was facing financial challenges in doing road rehabilitation projects while a company that had been contracted to construct storm drains in Mkhosana has not finished work due to delays in the release of funds.

Council has over the years been hiring equipment from other local authorities or contractors.

After years of operating with one faulty grader which was bought in 1979, council recently purchased a new machine using its own resources and devolution funds.

Town Clerk Mr Ronnie Dube said the grader will reinforce road rehabilitation works in the city.

“We have purchased a grader for US$80 000 from council coffers and US$100 000 from the devolution funds,” said Mr Dube.

He could not readily disclose how much the local authority had received from devolution funds last year.

Mr Dube said the new grader, which has already been delivered and ready to start work once the rains stop, adds to the one that the council had been using that was not performing well due to constant breakdowns.

“This means we now have two graders and this will reinforce Victoria Falls City’s road rehabilitation works.

“This equipment replaces one that was bought in 1979 and it will be used for road rehabilitation. We used to spend a lot of money on equipment hire and we now envisage doing more work with our own equipment,” said Mr Dube.

Meanwhile, a section of the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Highway near Masuwe Bridge that had been barricaded to pave way for maintenance work has been opened for vehicles after completion of roadworks.

The road was closed in December and a detour was created to allow the repair of the portion of the road which had been damaged by rains.

The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development repaired the portion of the road through the Department of Roads.

-@ncubeleon