The Sunday News
Rutendo Nyeve, Sunday News Reporter
THE rehabilitation of Luveve Road that has been going on has come to a halt allegedly over payment currency disagreements between the Bulawayo City Council and the contractor who is expected to supply a road paving machine.
BCC is reportedly insisting on paying the contractor in local currency while the contractor is demanding United States dollars.
In January, the council embarked on a three-month rehabilitation of some sections of the road that is in bad shape due to potholes. The rehabilitation work was supposed to be done within 90 days. To date, the reconstruction work has involved base preparation and final compaction of bases that completes the earthworks.
Last week the local authority claimed that construction work had been stopped due to bad weather as it was raining but it has since emerged that council has not commenced the surfacing of the base with Sunday News being reliably informed that the local authority was failing to agree with a contractor who is expected to lease a road paver machine to them. The contractor, reportedly the only one in the city who owns such a machine, is said to be demanding payment in United States dollars, while the council is insisting on paying in local currency.
“The contractor is requiring part of the payment to be in United States dollars and the council is saying they do not have the money. So, council and the contractor are at loggerheads hence it is halting the reconstruction of the road,” said the source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Christopher Dube
Contacted for comment over reports, BCC acting Engineering Services director, Engineer Sikhumbuzo Ncube declined to comment saying he needed clearance from the Town Clerk, Mr Christopher Dube, as the issue was sensitive.
“I cannot comment on the issue. It is quite sensitive and I might need clearance from the town clerk,” said Eng Ncube.
However, speaking to our sister publication Chronicle last week, Eng Ncube said due to wet conditions, the local authority has temporarily stopped work.
“It’s a matter of paying due diligence to resource usage, working during and under wet conditions would have just been a waste of scarce resources. Once conditions are conducive, our teams will return to the site and continue from where we left. Since we have already lost some days, the envisaged 90 days to complete the works is no longer possible to meet.”
The closure of the strip has caused traffic jams during peak hours with two lanes being shared by both incoming and outgoing traffic at the Matshobana suburb rehabilitation phase. – @nyeve14.
