The Sunday News
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
PROVINCIAL Development Committee members of Matabeleland North and government agencies providing public service met this Tuesday morning to unpack the ‘A Call to Action-No Compromise to Service Delivery’ blueprint to share a common understanding of the document.
Mr Tapiwa Zivovoyi, the acting director of Local Government Services said the purpose of the meeting was to sensitise and roll out the blueprint to Matabeleland North Province so that the officials are aware of it and support it as local authorities are moving towards an empowered and prosperous community by 2030.
The objective of the blueprint is to ensure that every Local Authority form organisational systems and physical planning perspectives to develop a roadmap towards a 2030 vision status. In this respect, the Government will come up with minimum service delivery levels to be achieved by all local authorities.
“Dr ED Mnangagwa made a clarion call on the 1st of November 2023 a ‘call to action, no compromise’ to service delivery to local authorities. In the process, he launched a blueprint and in that blueprint, there are issues that he spelled out that local authorities ought to do. They need to have master plans, audited accounts that are up to date, evaluation roles, and modernise their systems and revenue collection” he said.
He said the current setup in the local authorities is no longer functional.
“The systems that local authorities are using are not working, raising the need to modernise them. Our cities are dirty, we have fly-by-night toilets where people use paper bags to relieve themselves because there is no water.
“If we are failing to deliver on basic issues of water, then we need to rethink how we are providing services. The President is saying we need to modernise. Why can’t we buy waste, in other countries they buy it and once you start buying water bottles, you will not see the litter of water bottles in the streets. If we have the Environmental Management Agency these are issues we must be thinking around,” said Mr Zivovoi.
He said it is important that the PDC members cascade the blueprint to subnational structures to ensure that it reaches the grassroots bearing a common understanding to it.
Furthermore, he said it must be internalised, monitored supported, and supervised in its first phase.
@NyembeziMu
