River meandering caused the collapse of Skyline-Chimanimani highway: Government
Yesterday the Skyline-Chimanimani highways collapsed just after Charter Bridge. A Honda fit driving to Chimanimani fell into the depression and the driver died.
Most of the people on Social Media blame poor workmanship, corruption and looting of public resources. This is seen in many comments on twitter saying,
“Poor workmanship, road yacho haimboite kunge yakabva kugadzirwa. Rest in peace Silas my brother.
” From the look of things, the circled area has low vegetation meaning it is route for perennial rains. Had the constructor put a culvert there, it was not going to gibe in. This is a shit job”
“This is poor workmanship. You are busy looting the money and giving tenders to you friends and children.”
River meandering caused the collapse of Skyline-Chimanimani highway: Government
However, the Government says the fault is with a nearby river. Nick Mangwana the Government Spokesperson said a nearby river is to blame for the disaster.
” Manicaland Provincial Roads Engineer Atherton Zindoga advises that an upstream river changed its course and undermined the Skyline-Chimanimani highway which collapsed and claimed the life of one person. May their soul rest in eternal peace,” said Nick Mangwana.
Engineer Zindoga also blames the heavy rains in the district. He dismisses speculation of corruption and poor workmanship.
” Our heartfelt condolences to the deceased’s family. As a ministry we are going to lobby for resources to monitor and inspect our roads so that if preventable, such incidents should not happen again and claim lives,” he said.
This disaster happens just two months after President Emmerson Mnangagwa officially commissioned the highway. This Skyline-Chimanimani highway was damaged by the Cyclone Idai disaster in 2019.