Farmers lament the dire state of Mutasa District roads

The state of connecting roads between the 31 wards of Mutasa District is in a dire state whilst we are approaching the rainy season. There is an outcry from the banana and tea growers concerning the Murara to Matondora road, as the road is no longer usable. The farmers are failing to transport their perishable goods in time due to the dilapidated roads. It is said that the Member of Parliament promised residents that the road will be repaired in no time, but it is now ten months without any action being taken.
“The rains will be here shortly and transporting our bananas to market will be difficult”, said Mr Jamera. Concerns from farmers at Murara business center are that they contribute revenue to the treasury, but they don’t receive the much-needed service delivery. Murara business center is a very busy fresh farm produce market in Honde Valley, Mutasa North. The place is very busy but there are no proper ablution facilities, and this forces people to use the bush system which is a health hazard.
A lot of roads in Mutasa North are in a bad state and they need urgent attention from both the local authority and the national government. The Murara to Matondora road is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure.
For the other connecting roads within villages, it is responsible of Mutasa Rural District Council. Despite being allocated ZWL19 425 711 and receiving ZWL 17 702 425 under the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Plan phase 1, Mutasa RDC is failing to maintain the roads expeditiously. Residents are expecting the council to speed up their pace in road rehabilitation programmes before the rainy season. As residents we advocate for the speedy maintenance of all the major roads before the rains through engaging the Mutasa RDC and all our local councilors and Member of Parliament in our respective wards.