Chimanimani council sets up illegal levy roadblock  

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Pamenus Tuso

Chimanimani—Transport and Infrastructural Development minister, Felix Mhona, has directed the Chimanimani Rural District Council (RDC), to dismantle an illegal timber levy collection roadblock that the local authority set up along the Chimanimani/Mutare highway two weeks ago.

Last year, the council constructed a timber levy structure at Biriiri Growth Point, but it remained unused until the recent deployment of local neighbourhood watch committee members, who were being used to collect the levy from haulage trucks.

This move had disrupted timber transportation.

Mhona insisted in an interview with NewsHub that the council toll point violated the Road Traffic Act (Chapter 13:12).

Section 47(2) of the Act prohibits the placement of structures on or near roads without written consent from the roads authority.

“I will advise my provincial road engineer to engage and, if that is happening (roadblock), to stop it with immediate effect until the proper channel is followed as enunciated in the Road Act.

“Section 47(2) of the Act outlines various prohibitions, including placing any material or structure on or over any road or within fifty meters from the boundary of any road without written authority from the road authority concerned,” explained the minister.

The roadblock, this publication has established, was removed after our interview with the minister.

The levy collection scheme had been shrouded in secrecy, with council officials refusing to comment.

Transporters expressed frustration over the levy, with one truck driver revealing that they were being charged US$75 for each timber load.

“I was surprised when the road was barricaded by traffic cones. When I tried to enquire from the people manning the checkpoint, they told me that they were from council and wanted US$75 for the timber load which my truck was carrying.

“Honestly, how can council (CRDC) demand such an amount without first engaging and warning the truck owners? I am just a mere driver and my employer had not budgeted for such a cost,” said the truck driver who refused to be named for fear of victimisation.

Those manning the roadblock were reportedly forcibly immobilising trucks until they paid the levy.

Another truck driver, who requested to remain anonymous due to fear of victimisation, complained that the roadblock was shrouded in mystery.

He noted that there was no weighbridge to determine the amounts that drivers should pay for varying loads.

Instead, all the loads were being charged a flat US$75.

It could not be immediately ascertained how much money council raised and how it was being used since the RDC refused to talk.

“There is no transparency in the whole levying system. For example, my 30 tonne truck was levied the same amount as a 21 tonne truck from the same company which I work for.

“There is no weighbridge to determine the tonnage which every truck is carrying. Everything is just estimated,” said another driver.

Sources have alleged that members of the local neighbourhood watch committee received 25% of the collected revenue, with the council retaining the remainder.

The levy collectors were also soliciting for bribes to let truck go, sources said.

The Chimanimani RDC chief executive officer, Nehemiah Deure, directed enquiries to the  Information ministry, while the District Information Officer, Amos Chiroodza, dismissed reports of the roadblock.

The council has jurisdiction over an area rich in timber but has been losing substantial sums due to illegal logging and timber smuggling, with allegations that powerful politicians and local leaders are complicit in the activities.

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