The Sunday Mail
Emmanuel Kafe
WHILE city dwellers have been complaining about potholed roads in and around the capital, they are now increasingly facing a new menace – telecommunication companies that are laying fibre optic cables.
In some instances, resurfaced roads are being dug up, while some trenches are not being backfilled.
Where the cables pass through residential areas, some residents suffered the ignominy of having their properties dug several times by different companies.
The country has more than 10 telecommunication companies – including ZOL; Africom; Dandemutande; TelOne; Utande; Telecel; NetOne; Econet; Standard Telephones and Cables; and Gikko, most of which are reluctant to share their infrastructure.
As a result, there are cases where different companies are trenching and laying separate cables in the same area.
What is, however, worrying is that some of the poorly backfilled trenches gradually become potholes or puddles that breed mosquitoes. Along Harare Drive, in areas like Ashdown Park, water is gushing out from one of the trenches that has been open for several months.
In Mabelreign, along Sherwood Drive, an unknown company failed to properly compact the backfill after laying their cables.
It is the same situation at Chitungwiza’s C junction in Unit M, where deep trenches have been left open for months.
Harare Residents Trust director Mr Precious Shumba said, while residents appreciate the work telecommunication companies do, the firms must restore dug-up areas to their original state.
“This practice of leaving open trenches and open pits has gone on for a while and the impact is worse during rainy seasons. The public are affected in several ways,” he said.
“This damages vehicle suspensions and causes tyre punctures. For example, on the flyover on Rotten Row (now Gamal Abdel Nasser Road), there are trenches left open that are causing damage to vehicles.
“To improve their works, these telecommunications service providers should assign technically competent people to supervise the trenching and restoration of the roads to minimise harm to people and vehicles.”
Harare City Council, he said, needs to be on the lookout for unsecured trenches.
“As the Harare Residents Trust, we expect these works to be done with the full involvement of engineers and technicians from the local authority who are responsible for the Department of Works.”
However, Harare City Council spokesperson Mr Innocent Ruwende blamed the companies for flouting regulations.
“The problem is they are trenching during the night or in areas they know we will not see them in action and they leave without backfilling. We are calling on residents and other stakeholders to report such companies and individuals. Lately, the city has not authorised any company or individual to do any trenching.”
Mrs Monica Chiwerure, a resident, said it is disconcerting that even Harare’s central business district (CBD) is also affected.
“It is bad! The situation is not only restricted to the CBD but even in the Avenues area and other suburbs, where a lot of trenching has taken place. Where I stay in the Avenues, the trenches have become a breeding ground for mosquitoes,” she said.
“I urge the council to engage telecommunication companies and implore them to adequately cover the trenches they dig when they lay their cables across roads in Harare.”
Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) director-general Dr Gift Muchengete said the damage caused by telecoms operators is worrying.
“As POTRAZ, we deal with issues to do with services provision; what happens on the ground is under the purview of local authorities,” he said. Although POTRAZ has been encouraging companies to share infrastructure where possible to minimise environmental damage, its exhortation has largely been unheeded.
Harare Metropolitan Province Secretary for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Mr Tafadzwa Muguti said the “system has broken down at councils’ level”.
“No one should dig the road or open up trenches without their approval,” he said.
“It’s disappointing that we have engineers who fully appreciate the repercussions of trenches being left unattended but are not doing their part to enforce Acts and by-laws.”
