The Sunday News
Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
CONSISTENCE and teamwork among council employees and policymakers (councillors) and ratepayers should be a priority for any local authority seeking to further people-centred service delivery.
This was said by Beitbridge’s acting Town Clerk Mr Sathulani Moyo in an interview last week after the local authority was adjudged the silver winners of three prestigious Megafest Business awards held in Harare at the end of last month.
The municipality scooped three gongs for; sewage removal and treatment, road construction and management and water production and management.
According to Mr Moyo the awards are adjudged based on the Service Level Benchmarking (SLB), which is done by sister or peer local authorities.
“This is a morale booster for the staff, ratepayers and policymakers. We can only do wonders if we complement each other. We have been able to implement most of our capital programme because of the good working relations of all the actors including the current and previous policymakers (councillors). As a local authority we have entered into a number of partnerships with development agencies to improve our housing and road infrastructure. You will note that recently we had a Special Commission of Inquiry into service delivery issues and they noted a few areas on sewer management, which we have started addressing”.
Mr Moyo continued; “In terms of the sewer management, the judges looked at how we treat the affluent at the sewer ponds where we have been operating well conscious of environment management and pollution issues. A lot has been done in that area”.
He said they managed to do well on road projects they are implementing jointly with land developers on a private public partnership basis.
The acting Town Clerk said though the local authority has been struggling in constructing and maintaining its own road network, they were in the process of acquiring earth moving equipment to help upgrade and build new roads.
Mr Moyo said the current setup where they had to hire equipment was cumbersome and costly.
“At the awards ceremony we were also commended for the way we manage our water system in that it is portable, clean and safe.
However, we note that supply has not been adequate in most areas and we are putting measures in place to developed water and sewer infrastructure which is in tandem with our town’s rapid growth and transformation,” he said.
Mr Moyo also urged residents to honour their debts and rates to enhance the municipality’s capacity to improve on service delivery.
He said currently they were collecting slightly below their target adding that such a scenario was stifling their strength on the ground.
The acting Town Clerk said they will continue engaging ratepayers and those who owe the local authority to play ball and that they will resort to legal recourse as a last option.
“Currently, we have lined up a number of infrastructure development programmes, which we believe if successfully implemented will boost our service delivery capacity.
“Notable projects include the upgrading of the sewer reticulation system to minimise the issue of intermittent blockages. In some cases they would remove small and worn out pipes and replace them with modern equipment,” said Mr Moyo.
Additional projects pending implementation, he said, would include solar-powered public lights, road signage, upgrading Dulivhadzimu bus terminus, procuring a back hoe loader, a refuse compactor and a tipper, culverts constructions, reconstruction of storm water drains and the installation of pre-paid water meters.
