HWANGE and Victoria Falls residents have implored their local authorities to up the game in service delivery and meet public expectations.
Hwange and Victoria Falls are the only urban areas in Matabeleland North and are tourist destinations whose service delivery should be top notch.
Residents feel delivery of services has been poor, especially with regards to waste management, sewer reticulation, water distribution, roads maintenance and civic protection.
Posting on its official Twitter page, the Greater Whange Residents Trust (GWRT) said it was concerned about poor service delivery in the coal mining town.
“Greater Whange Residents Trust has noted with concern the deterioration of service delivery both in Hwange Local Board (HLB) and concession areas in 2022, notably in Empumalanga West and public toilets,” read the tweet.
In a follow-up interview, GWRT chairman Mr Bryan Chikumbo said the state of public toilets in Hwange’s concession areas is a cause for concern.
The concession areas are administered by Hwange Colliery Company.
Mr Chikumbo said the public toilets in Number 1, Number 2, Number 3 and Number 5 are in a deplorable state, while in Empumalanga residents blame Hwange Local Board for delaying to service land for housing.
Mr Chikumbo said home seekers paid for the housing stands but have not been allowed to start building because the HLB has not serviced the land.
He challenged the local authority to be transparent and update residents on progress.
“People are not allowed to build and the reason being cited is that the place is not yet ready according to Government regulations. The most surprising thing is that in the same area there are some houses that have already been built.
“We need transparency to highlight what is exactly hindering progress and if it’s about shortfalls it should be clear and people can top up. People are concerned about poor service delivery and we need timeframes on when these issues will be addressed,” he said.
The HLB has said there is progress in some projects, especially servicing of the sewer system in partnership with Zimbabwe Power Company which has started laying pipes from Empumalanga sewer plant to new Empumalanga low and medium density housing projects which are being built by the power authority.
In Victoria Falls, residents said while there was improvement in service delivery towards the end of the year, a lot needs to be done by the local authority.
There are however concerns about perennial water challenges and threats of flooding as a result of lack of storm drains.
The council started a project of constructing storm drains along some roads in the high density suburbs but failed to complete works leaving mounds of soil blocking passage into and out of houses.
A Chronicle news crew observed that some residents have blocked storm drains using soil and sacks filled with sand, in an effort to have passage across the trenches into and out of their homes.
Residents have defended their actions and accused the council of failing to complete the drains and leaving mounds of soil blocking passage into houses.
The local authority started the project in partnership with private contractors last year in an effort to prevent flash floods that have affected the city over the years.
Combined Victoria Falls Residents Association chairperson Mr Kelvin Moyo blamed poor service on corruption.
“Service delivery has been fair lately as far as refuse collection and water is concerned but the disappointment has been on serious financial leakages in council which we believe affected delivery of quality service.
“We appreciate that the council was not the one constructing storm drains but the supervisory role remains key. We have a challenge because they failed to clear mounds of soil. Their explanation was that it is meant to protect vehicles from crashing into the trenches,” said Mr Moyo.
“We implore the council to complete the works urgently so that we protect residents from floods. Going into 2023, we expect that the council learnt some lessons from last year and things should improve. We don’t want to always fight with council but we are saying let’s all play our roles to improve service delivery,” added Mr Moyo.
Victoria Falls City engineer Mrs Sherinah Sibanda recently said the mounds of soil were deliberately left to protect residents from the trenches and will be cleared once work is completed. – The Chronicle
