The city of Harare is moving from the traditional asphalt roads to concrete roads in an effort to beat potholes. Acting Town Clerk Mrs Josephine Ncube said that concrete roads were cheaper to maintain, have a longer lifespan and the materially was available locally. Arcturus Road will be the first one to be paved with concrete.
Speaking to the Herald, Ncube said:
We will be introducing our first cement roads very soon. We are going to start with Arcturus Road. We think there is justification to use such roads as most developed countries have since migrated from asphalt roads which require constant maintenance. We have the requisite skills in council.
Concrete roads require low maintenance and the advantage we have is that we have capacity as there is a lot of cement readily available in the country as compared to bitumen which we are currently importing from South Africa at higher prices.
The potholes have become so bad that recently Mayor Bernard Manyenyeni advised residents to drive at speeds not in excess of 60 km/h. The city of Harare has accused Zinara of sabotaging them by giving them inadequate funds.
More: Herald