BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) in partnership with the Bulawayo Angling Club are planning to rehabilitate the access road to Ncema and Inyankuni dams which is key for water supply to the city.

This was revealed by director for engineering services, Simela Dube during a recent council meeting.

Dube said his department had been approached by the Bulawayo Angling Club which wanted to assist the BCC to patch potholes on the 17,5km link road to the two dams.

“The Ncema to Inyankuni dam access road stretches from Gwanda Road to Inyankuni dam and is approximately 17,5km in length. The road had outlived its lifespan and was now littered with potholes. Under normal circumstances, it takes approximately 30 minutes to travel from Gwanda Road to Inyankuni Dam, but now because of its state it takes approximately 90 minutes,” the minutes read.

“While this road falls under the jurisdiction of the Umzingwane Rural District Council (URDC), BCC approached URDC sometime in February 2021 with a view of jointly rehabilitating this road in anticipation of the commissioning of the newly installed pumps at Ncema and Fernhill Waterworks.”

Indications are that the club received donations comprising diesel to cater for the works, lowbed truck for transporting an excavator (round trip) and food and beverages for the staff.

The club requested resources to last five days which included two tipper trucks, including operators, assistants and an excavator, an operator and his assistant as well.

Indications are that the patching of potholes would form part of the preparatory works for the major rehabilitation works once government disbursed funds for the project.

“The current state of this road has resulted in increased maintenance costs for the vehicles used by the inspector and superintendent, especially on the tyres and suspension. Council was expecting the recently completed upgrading works at Ncema and Fernhill workstations to be commissioned by a highlevel delegation from Harare, hence it was imperative to start the preparatory works as soon as possible.”