Harare Mayor Editors Engagement Meeting
Zinara using 2014 vehicle statistics: Harare mayor
Zinara says they are 250 000, I am arguing that they are 800 000 cars in Harare, certainly that was the figure they gave in 2014 when they last did a vehicle count, and they are keeping that figure faithfully but the traffic jam is unbelievable.
By ALBERT MASAKA
THE City of Harare is skeptical of the accuracy of revenue figures provided by the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) saying this has also resulted in council receiving paltry sums that are financially crippling road rehabilitation and maintenance progrrammes.
Harare mayor Jacob Mafume said this during a meet-and greet meeting for editors that he hosted in the capital on Friday.
The meeting by Mafume was in line with the City of Harare’s recent decision to put residents and other stakeholders at the centre of its agenda by communicating council’s challenges, good developments, plans and achievements.
Mafume revealed that Zinara was still using 2014 vehicle count statistics that are not a true reflection of the current population of vehicles subjected to licensing by the road authority in the capital city.
He gave context of some of the challenges facing the city in a light-hearted address to members of the Zimbabwe National Editors Forum.
“The other major challenge after waste management is the roads that are now Zinara’s baby. My example was that you cannot take a muroora momuisa uku, then you build the bedroom somewhere and expect babies. It’s not going to happen, you need to get them a bedroom.
HARARE MAYOR JACOB MAFUME
He lamented the fact that Zinara was getting the money yet the City of Harare is expected to build the roads.
To put it into perspective every year Zinara has given us US$2 million per month. The money goes to Zinara, and we are having a dispute on the number of cars that are in Harare.
“Zinara says they are 250 000, I am arguing that they are 800 000 cars in Harare, certainly that was the figure they gave in 2014 when they last did a vehicle count, and they are keeping that figure faithfully but the traffic jam is unbelievable.”
Mafume insisted that if Zinara was to disburse to his council just half of what it collects the capital city’s road challenges would be over.
“Because at US$40 per car, and even if I take their argument that there are 250 000 cars that will come to about US$40 million per quarter, with US$20 million per quarter I will do the roads because I will use our quarry and we will buy an asphalt plant and we will continuously make the roads.
He reiterated that the only way forward was for Harare to do the work.
According to the 2015 audit report Mafume said Zinara received US$64 million from road user fees, and allocated the City of Harare a paltry US$2 million.
He added that in the same report Zinara got US$64 million from fuel levy and did not give council a single cent yet the most fuel is used in Harare.
“ Carbon tax they got about US$7 million in 2015 and we never got a cent, that’s why we don’t have machines in Harare a to measure pollution and policing and so forth that is what the carbon tax is supposed to do.”
On the issue of toll gates Mafume said it defied logic that motorists pay to get out of Harare and pay to get into Harare but Zinara takes all the money.
“So if the context is that you are paying to get into the highway then consequently you are paying to get into the Harare roads so why does Zinara take all the money? It a challenge
He also took a swipe at the model Zinara was using in the city that was focused on engaging big road contractors.
“You cannot make the roads of a city using the model that they are using of working with big contractors because sometimes in a city you have to do three kilometres you have to do 10 km, you have to do a crescent, now a big company cannot set up a plant.
“For example they once made the mistake of contracting the 1km stretch near Southerton Police Station, now expecting a big company to put up its plant, but it doesn’t work.