Road and railway infrastructure is increasingly under
threat in the southern region where rampant gold panning is concentrated amid
calls for tough measures to be taken to bring the culprits to book.
In the latest incident, gold panners are said to have dug
the section of the highway at the 144,7km peg between Gwanda and Collen Bawn.
Masvingo-Mbalabala Road, other sections of Bulawayo
Beitbridge Road, Maphisa-Mphoengs Road, Old Gwanda Road and Makwe Road under
the jurisdiction of the Gwanda Rural District Council are part of the road
network that has been damaged by the illegal gold miners.
The miners have also damaged parts of the Bulawayo
Beitbridge railway track.
Following the latest incident, the Ministry of Transport
and Infrastructural Development has reacted swiftly by implementing emergency
backfilling to prevent the road from collapsing. In a statement, the ministry
expressed concern over the increasing vandalism of national transport
infrastructure.
“The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development
has noted with great concern the numerous cases of illegal mining on the road
and railway track servitudes with the recent case in Matabeleland South
Province, which has recorded various cases of illegal mining on the road at the
144,7km peg between Gwanda and Collen Bawn,” reads the statement.
“Illegal miners tunnelled through around close to 4m under
the road surface, and a crack emerged directly above the tunnel due to heavy
rains.”
An inter-governmental team has been dispatched to conduct
an assessment tour of the vandalism to the road network.
The ministry said the Department of Roads, Environmental
Management Agency, Ministry of Mines and Mining Development were part of the
agencies that were part of the joint investigation.
It encouraged the public to report those seen vandalising
the national infrastructure.
“As an interim remedial intervention, the Department of
Roads managed to backfill all the openings to prevent rain-water runoff from
infiltrating the ground through the opening and
erected a signage to alert motorists to exercise extreme caution as they
go through the section of the road,” reads the statement.
“The ministry would like to encourage the general public
not to vandalise public infrastructure as this is detrimental to the country’s
development.
“Furthermore, we would like to appeal to the public to
report such activities so that the culprits will be brought before justice.”
Chronicle
0 comments:
Post a Comment