Set up committee to revive income generating projects
The Masvingo City Council is battling a myriad of challenges including the water crisis, which has seen residents of the ancient city getting erratic water supplies, poor road network and ballooning debts. Residents of the city are also up in arms with the local authority over its recent tariff hikes. They say the new tariffs were beyond the reach of many in the city.
Business Times reporter, Regis Chingawo (RC), caught up with the Masvingo acting town clerk, engineer Edward Mukaratirwa (EM) to discuss these teething challenges facing the city and measures the local authority was taking to address the challenges and other things.
Below are excerpts of the interview:
RC: The city is currently facing a water crisis as Bushmead Water Works can no longer pump adequate water for the ballooning population. How far have you gone with the long-proposed water augmentation project?
EM: Council has undertaken feasibility studies for the augmentation project. We have also engaged the Infrastructural Development Bank of Zimbabwe so that they can chip in with the financial assistance towards the project. As you are aware, we had been promised some funding from a bank in China some years back so that we can carry out the water augmentation project, but we failed to get a government guarantee for the loan to be processed. We are however still pursuing that deal and at the same time looking for other business partners. We are also negotiating with the business community to chip in towards funding the project on a Private to Public Partnership. We need a long-term loan which will be paid back over a period of 20 years for the water augmentation project to succeed. This project is our top priority.
RC: Another project, which has taken long to be completed, is the Mucheke Trunk Sewer project. What measures are you taking to ensure that this project is completed?
EM: This project was once funded by a loan from the National Social Security Authority (NSSA). But, the parastatal later on withdrew its funding.
We are, however, happy that the government has now said some uncompleted projects would be financed through money from devolution funds.
We received some funding from the fund which we used to purchase sewer trunks pipes and other material. This year we are planning that the huge chunk of the funds that we will receive from the devolution funds will be used to expedite the project. We are expecting ZWL$125m that will go towards this project, firstly targeting an area from Rujeko sewer pump station to some residential area in Mucheke. We are hoping to complete the project in 2022 if all goes well.
RC: We understand that Masvingo City Council’s service delivery efforts are being derailed due to the ballooning debts owed to the local authority by residents and other ratepayers. Can you shed light on that issue?
EM: Yes, it’s true that our service delivery efforts have been adversely affected by outstanding debts. As of February 2021, the outstanding debts from residents, government departments and other stakeholders were pegged at $162m. We are urging those with outstanding debts to approach our finance departments to formulate payment plans.
RC: Runyararo West and Victoria Ranch residents have raised disquiet over the dump site in the area. They want it to be moved to some far away area from their homes as they fear a highly likelihood of a health hazard disaster. What are you doing to address the situation?
EM: We have been allocated a 10 hectare farm which is far away from Victoria Ranch and Runyararo West suburbs. We have done some preparatory work and got approvals from the Environmental Management Agency. We now have prepared to move from the current site next month. We are currently repairing mechanical equipment that will be used at the new dump site as we cannot use hired equipment as this is expensive. Our plans are that by August or September the new dump site will be fully operational.
RC: There have been calls from residents in Masvingo for the rehabilitation of Chimusana bridge used by residents and motorists to either get into or out of town from Mucheke suburb. The bridge can no longer cater for the increased volume traffic and is easily flooded during the rainy season. Are there any plans to rehabilitate the bridge?
EM: Yes there are plans for the bridge to be rehabilitated. On our proposals which we did, we considered the project under the Emergency Roads Rehabilitation programme.
However the bridge rehabilitation programme does not qualify under the routine maintenance programme which is the first phase, it also does not qualify under the phase two programme which is periodic maintenance but it qualifies under the third phase. We are hoping that if all goes well and get some funding, we will be able to rehabilitate the bridge under the emergency road rehabilitation programme which is the third phase.
RC: How far have you gone with plans to revamp Mucheke Bus Terminus as there have been persistence calls from vendors in Mucheke for buses to use the rank so that their businesses will be boosted?
EM: We are planning to rehabilitate the bus terminus this year and we will soon be revamping the ablution system, tarring of the parking space and putting of new sheds. Yes the vendors around Mucheke are correct when they say they want buses to use the rank so as to find some income through vending. We are not happy that in the central business district, buses are picking up passengers from areas where there are no ablution facilities.
We have spoken to the bus operators who have welcomed our plans. Yes, the plans are that this year, the rank must start operating smoothly.
RC: There have been calls from stakeholders that other than relying on revenue from residents, Masvingo City Council must start other income generating projects to augment residents funding. What is your view on this?
EM: Yes, there is a need to complement residents’ funding. We have put in place a committee to ensure the revival of our income projects like bars, brick moulding in Majange suburb. We also have farms which we are currently leasing; we plan to ensure that once we take over these farms we do something productive.
We also plan to construct a station in the mould of Roadport station in Harare, where cross border buses will park and we get revenue.
We will be working with the private sector on the issue. We also plan to construct a truck stop where long distance truck drivers stop and rest in the process paying for our services. The committee we have appointed, is now at the feasibility stage working on how we can do these projects and the amount of money needed to carry out these projects. We are hoping that by midyear we would have started one or two of these projects depending on the availability of resources.
RC: Residents have raised concern over the recent tariff hikes in the 2021 budget. They are resisting paying the new tariff. How are you going to deal with the situation?
EM: We will be having meetings in wards of the city to deliberate on residents’ concerns and also giving them feedback on the budget that was approved by the ministry of Local Government and Public Works. The meetings will be held in a group of 50 people in line with COVID 19 regulations.
