As Musina Municipality finally rolled out its road-maintenance plan, new hope dawned for local road users. The project, led by the municipality's civils manager, Mr Mike Mthombeni, includes the repair of potholes on all the major municipal roads. The initiative kicked off along the busy Irwin Street last week.
Mthombeni says the municipality had received several complaints from road users about the poor state of some of the roads in the border town. "Despite limited resources and manpower, we tried our best to address the issue of damaged roads in Musina. Now, with the support of the municipal council, we came up with a comprehensive plan to address this challenge properly. We acquired machinery and equipment to help us speed up the process and we hope that the initiative will yield positive results for both motorists and pedestrians."
According to Mthombeni, the initiative is in line with the new council's strategic vision of a safer road network to all Musina communities, tourists and visitors. "We are inclined to make this vision a reality in order to make Musina a better place to stay for everyone. The road maintenance plan is continuous, and we have no doubt that it will put a smile on the faces of road users in due course."
A local driver, who preferred anonymity, said he was very excited when he first saw municipal workers busy patching up roads. "Last time we saw the municipal team fill up potholes with soil. Now that they are using tar, we are very glad that the potholes will be permanently closed, giving our vehicles a longer lifespan."
The Musina Municipality's traffic manager, Mr Ailwei Mutele, urged road users to respect and follow instructions from municipal workers to avoid accidents. "At some point, this positive work will affect traffic flow. We humbly request cooperation from all road users."