By Correspondent
Zinara Board Chairman Dr George Manyaya has admitted to his organisation underfunding various road projects in the cities.
Manyaya revealed this on Wednesday while giving an update on their operations.
“As we continue to fund these key road projects, I urge our esteemed councils or rather road authorities to uphold the highest standards of quality.
“The works we deliver must be durable, reflecting the trust and investment of the Zimbabwean people.
“As you may be aware, the country suffered a significant road infrastructure maintenance gap.
“As the new Zinara board, we are working flat out to ensure that we recover from in the not-so-distant future.
“We are therefore cognisant that the money that we collect and disburse for the core purposes of road maintenance may not be adequate for the job at hand, he said.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, Zinara collected $868 billion against a revised budget of $768 billion.
Council Complaints
However, many Council have continuously complained about underfunding.
In January Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume accused Zinara of under-allocating them only US$2 million out of US$64 million collected from motorists annually.
Harare has been receiving the same amount for the past two years.
This, according to Mafume, is meagre considering Zinara is also collecting fuel levy and carbon tax.
“There is a fuel levy, the bulky of fuel is used in Harare by Harare Motorists.
“We are getting zero from the fuel levy.
“I hasten to add that the fuel levy is paid in USD and as I have indicated Zinara has only given us Zimbabwean dollars.
“It is not giving us USD yet they are getting fuel levy in USD.
Harare has an estimated of 5000km of road network with 87% of the tarmac requiring urgent servicing.