Gokwe Town Council has embarked on an exercise to tar some of the roads in the central business district at a cost of US$502 000, a council official has said.
The council has contracted the Central Mechanical Equipment Department CMED) to tar a total of about two kilometres of roads, according to Gokwe Mayor Never Gwanzura.
“We awarded a contract to CMED where we want some roads in our CBD to be tarred. These roads are currently not tarred and these are just short roads, as you know our CBD, but they add up to about two kilometres in total,” said Gwanzura.
He said that the contractor, CMED, had started laying some gravel on the roads that were earmarked for tarring.
Gwanzura also said that the council`s project to drill 6 solar-powered boreholes in the town is progressing well, with one borehole now complete.
The town council in November last year revealed that it had contracted a private company, BGM, to drill solar-powered boreholes in the town`s six wards, at a cost of ZW$18 million.
“So far it is only one borehole that has been completed and now in use. You have to understand that it is a process which takes time, for example after setting up one borehole they have to run different lines to points where people then access water from,” Gwanzura said.
Gokwe is one of the driest parts of the country and relies on boreholes for water supply. In 2015, UNICEF handed the town eight water pumps to draw water from boreholes and improve the town`s water supply.