A police station and a court building in Gokwe Town face collapse after a huge gulley developed within their vicinity. The gulley developed between Hospital Road and Nemangwe Road.
BY BYRON MUTINGWENDE
Motorists have since abandoned Hospital Road in a bid to avoid the 10 meters by 15 meters gulley that is threatening both people and animals that freely roam the town.
Efforts by council workers to fill up smaller gullies around the area seem fruitless with local residents describing the move as piece-meal.
Gokwe Town secretary Melania Mandeya said council prioritised the reclamation of the gullies but needed support.
“If the biggest gulley expands beyond Hospital Road and heavy rains like the ones that pounded most parts of the country during Cyclone Eline around the year 2000 come again, most of the buildings at Gokwe Central Police Station and the courts will be washed away,” he said.
“If that happens there could be massive loss of lives and property.
“This development calls upon all stakeholders, relevant government departments and us as the local authority to come together and contain this potential catastrophe before it is too late.”
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As mitigation, council has employed three people from each of the six wards in Gokwe Town to rehabilitate the roads.
“For this quarter Zimbabwe National Road Authority, using vehicle licencing revenue it collects on our behalf, disbursed a $58 332 grant to council for road maintenance,” said Joconia Nyoni, Gokwe Town director of finance. Nyoni said the grant was insufficient to cover the cost of reclaiming the gullies.
However, he was optimistic of getting additional funding since council was racing against time to complete road maintenance before the onset of the rainy season.
Council had planned to use soil and weeds from its sewerage ponds to reclaim the gullies but the Environmental Management Agency advised that the move would have adverse effects on the environment.
