Residents lament over Wetlands invasion

BY KUDAKWASHE CHIBVURI

Residents in Marlborough have accused the City of Harare and regulatory bodies of illegally parcelling and selling wetlands near the Gwebi River and the suburb’s sewer ponds to top council officials and members of Parliament in a clear violation of Zimbabwe’s international commitments to protect wetlands.

Marlborough Environmental Action Group chairperson, Shungu Chirimuta, told Business Times that many allocations are being disguised to conceal actual beneficiaries.

“Water crisis is on us, and the council hasn’t done much to address the problem,” Chirimuta said.

“To worsen the crisis, it is giving land on those wetlands which are supposed to continue giving us water.”

Chirimuta said the group has documents it says show the City of Harare has been allocating wetland plots and that many allocations are being disguised through intermediaries so the official beneficiaries’ names do not appear on title documents.

“We have all the papers that the City of Harare has been giving lands in those wetlands, and we have made strides in trying to stop the continued invasion of those wetlands,” she said.

Members of the Marlborough Environmental Action Group and the Marlborough Residents and Ratepayers Association say parcels of wetland have been allegedly allocated to senior council officials and some members of Parliament, and that developments have already begun on the land despite repeated community protests.

Residents added that those ponds and surrounding wetlands, which act as natural water filters and catchments, are threatened by new development.

“We have ponds in Marlborough, which are also part of the wetland, and people are starting to build there with new developers coming in,” Makani Muzofa, chairman of the Marlborough Residents and Ratepayers Association, said.

“For example, Old Mutual is part of the Ashburton Flats and it is a wetland and they want to develop there and bring in 4,000 residents according to their proposal. We don’t want that because this is part of our catchment area for clean water.”

Muzofa said residents have taken some developers to court to try to halt construction.

“It’s disturbing because people are not sensitive. I don’t blame buyers, but I blame those authorising building in the wetland,” he said.

“EMA has to do more to protect our wetlands.”

Ward 41 Councillor Kudzai Kadzombe said she opposes any development on wetlands in her ward and has repeatedly alerted police about invasions.

She said she has engaged police “about four times” and that arrests of land barons and developers were made.

However, she lamented that those arrested have since resurfaced.

“I’m going to organize a meeting next week with the Director of Housing, Director of Town Planning, EMA, and the residents themselves through the Marlborough Residents and Ratepayers Association and Marlborough Environmental Action Group,” she said.

Acting Director of Urban Planning Services Samuel Nyabezi disputed claims that the council allowed development on Marlborough sewer pond land.

“I am aware of the Marlborough sewer ponds that’s our council land and we have never allowed any development to take place,” Nyabezi said, adding that determination of a wetland requires scientific studies, soil samples and formal designation.

Environmental Management Agency (EMA) Director-General Aaron Chigona declined to answer questions on the Marlborough wetlands and insisted the publication submit questions in writing before he would comment.

The allegations come as Zimbabwe remains formally committed to the Ramsar Convention, the international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands. Residents say that commitment must translate into decisive action on the ground.

“We really need those wetlands,” Muzofa said.

“We owe them to our children to the next generation. The water is being damaged because the filters are gone. We are losing valuable species that used to live in those wetlands.”