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THE road networks throughout the country are in a very bad state and the incessant rains received since the onset of the rains has worsened the situation. The rains have badly damaged the roads and in some cases have washed away or destroyed bridges.

Some of the roads in cities and towns are beyond repair and as such need to be reconstructed. This means a lot of money is required to make these roads navigable again.

In the rural areas, some roads are no longer passable which means communities are now finding it difficult to travel as buses no longer service their areas.

We therefore, want to commend Government for declaring the country’s road network a state of disaster in order to trigger mobilisation of resources to repair the damaged roads and bridges.

Cabinet on Tuesday declared the country’s road network a state of disaster noting that most of the roads have become untrafficable following incessant rains received since the onset of the rainy season.

Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said during a post-Cabinet media briefing that the poor state of the roads was adversely affecting service delivery countrywide.

She said Cabinet noted that due to the extensive damages to the roads, some areas had been rendered inaccessible.

Minister Mutsvangwa said this state of affairs had adversely affected socio-economic activities such as distribution of food, inputs and other essential services.

She said Government will soon embark on a massive repair and rehabilitation of all damaged roads and bridges.

“The restorative works will cover all urban areas as well as rural trunk roads,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.

The District Development Fund (DDF) has already started repairing roads and bridges under its jurisdiction using maintenance funds provided by Zinara. We want at this juncture to once again call on the private sector to partner Government and local authorities in rebuilding the damaged roads and bridges.

Councils are already struggling to meet their financial obligations such as paying salaries while Government has many competing priorities which include funding the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic among others.

Driving along some of the cities and towns’ roads has become a nightmare because of the potholes that are not only damaging vehicles but are also causing accidents as some of them can only be best described as gullies.

The obtaining situation calls for an engagement between councils and companies in their areas of jurisdiction whose vehicles are being damaged by the potholed roads.

Zinara should take the lead in mobilising resources for this road rehabilitation programme given that it is collecting the bulk of the levies paid by motorists whose cars are being damaged.

Roads are critical for the movement of goods and services and as such should be given priority.

The DDF in Matabeleland North province said it is targeting key roads linking districts and those connecting remote communities to enable people to access services and we hope this is what its counterparts in other provinces are doing.

There are already indications that the country might realise a bumper harvest this cropping season and farmers need to move their produce to the Grain Marketing Board depots and other markets. This requires good road networks hence the urgent need to start repairing the damaged roads and bridges now.