Natalie Sindile Nyathi
In an effort to do good, the damaged and neglected strip of Luveve Road, the Bulawayo City Council has embarked on a rehabilitation exercise to repair the area between Mpopama drive and Rio turnoff.
The work to rehabilitate the area has been ongoing for the past month. During the exercise of rehabilitation, after working hours equipment is left on the site as workmen retire to their homes.
Part of the equipment that is left unguarded includes danger warning sign triangles, detour message triangles, drainage pipes and drums filled with liquefied asphalt.
This reporter, observed a group of women from the adjacent Matshobane suburb siphoning the liquid asphalt from the drums.
Apparently, they were stealing the liquid asphalt that is intended to be used in the rehabilitation of the strip. The group of women and their children had with them empty twenty liter buckets, five liter containers and cups used to fill the containers and the buckets.
On inquiry this Zim GBC News reporter was told that the liquid asphalt is used to make home made floor polish.
“They use this tar (liquid asphalt) to make home made floor polish”, said the informer who refused with her name .
“Yazi okunye hayii ahh, abantu siyayangisa shua. Umgwagqo lo ubusuleskhathi eside ufile sebesilungisela nanko abantu sebetshontsha futhi“,
Some people are shameless, how can someone steal inputs that are meant to benefit them. Finally the City Council had decided to repair this strip but someone has the guts to steal implements from the road “, said an elderly to this reporter.
Efforts to get comment from the women was fruitless as they fled after this reporter identified herself.
Meanwhile, in the meantime the badly damaged strip is receiving a face lift after a very long time of neglect by the City Fathers. It had become unusable especially during the rainy season as Kombi drivers would avoid the badly damaged tarmac, which had become a gravel road from a rural area, by diverting unto Matshobane road strip that is still intact.
This diversion by Kombi drivers was endangering the lives of residents especially young children who would be playing outside their homes.
Efforts to get comment from the Bulawayo City Council to establish the quantity of liquid asphalt lost to these thieving women were inconclusive at the time of this publication.