3 October 2008
editorial
The announcement thatconstruction of feeder roadshas started in various parts of the countryis welcome news indeed.
All stakeholders, particularlythosein the agriculturesector must berelieved that this very important undertaking haskicked off.
Feeder roadsarethe vitalarterieson whichthe economy, particularly agricultural based economic activity, hinges.
In addition, many sectors of the economyare affectedas wellbecauseof the inescapableneed to move resources and materialsfor economic activity.
In a sense then,the road networkis a very importantcomponent of thenational economy anddeserves to be maintained in the best possible condition that can be achieved.
There isno doubtthat the Government is committed to the maintenance of vital infrastructure like roads as exhibited by the amounts of resources that are spent to maintain the road infrastructure.
Very soon, rain will begin and the condition offeeder roadswill deteriorate to the extent thatnormal trafficon some roadswill bevirtually unseen.
In fact, some areas of the country get cut-off from the rest of the countrywhen heavy rain washes away roads and bridges.
This is why theGovernmentshould be commended for actingpromptlyinraising the required money to ensure that the roadsrehabilitation exercisetakes off.
TheGovernment hasdone itspart ingettingready the K12 billionto fund the exercise.
The ball is now in the hands of implementing agents.
Firstly, they need to ensure that with the impending onset of rain, all workneeds to be carried outwith utmost urgency.
It will notdo to drag workuntil the dawn of the rain season because this would affect thequality ofwork.
Completion of the workswithintimeis criticaland this is the reasonwhy the minister ofWorksand Supply has ordered provinces that havenotyetkickedoff the exercise to do so withintwo weeks.
This deadline must be adhered to seriously.
Since the money has alreadybeen disbursed to various provincial centres,there should be no justificationfor any delay in the commencement of road repairs.
It is also importantthat both the money and equipment that has been deployed in the rehabilitation exercise areputto good use.
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