The Sunday News
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
OPPOSITION-run Bulawayo City Council has been blamed for the poor state of affairs in the city, as roads, lighting and sewage are in a deplorable state, a situation that could most likely deter any possible investors.
In a wide-ranging interview that also touched on the progress made by the Second Republic in developmental projects in the Matabeleland region, Zanu-PF Secretary for Administration Dr Obert Mpofu said the second largest City has been reduced to a growth point with poor road infrastructure coupled with pathetic service delivery.
BCC is largely dominated by councillors from the MDC-Alliance and the Citizens Coalition for Change serve for one councillor from the ruling party, Cowdray Park’s Councillor Kidwell Mujuru.
Councillor Kidwell Mujuru
“I am appealing to our people to realise that we can only develop our country by ourselves, through being objective, positive and ignore cheap politics that is being flagged by some characters who call themselves opposition parties. Just look at Bulawayo, it is turning into a rural area, a growth point. Look at the dust that is there as you drive around; the roads are not attended to. You hardly see any local authority trucks in town. The city has been turned into a growth point,” he lamented.
Dr Mpofu said he had seen the state of affairs in both eastern and western suburbs, noting that the areas were now pale shadows of their former selves, due to the poor service delivery.
Dr Obert Mpofu
“There are certain roads that you cannot use at all and people will be asking us as leaders what the problem is in Bulawayo. Sewage is all over, everything is flowing on the streets. The roads are impassable,” he said.
Dr Mpofu said Bulawayo was lagging behind in development also because would be investors are also discouraged by the grim outlook of the city as very little is being done to improve its status by the City Fathers.
“If you look at other towns and cities, there is development, the cities are very clean and really if I had my way, I would ask for government intervention in the running of urban centres because what is happening here is so bad. The streets are full of potholes and dust, people are selling their wares all over the place and then how do we attract investment in such a place,” he questioned.
Dr Mpofu however, said despite the failure of City Fathers to scale up service delivery in the city, there were notable projects on the road networks that were being carried out in Bulawayo funded by the government.
“We do have outstanding projects though like the Bulawayo Victoria Falls Road, the Bulawayo Tsholotsho Road, Bulawayo Nkayi Road. These are on top of government priorities. I am aware that the government is working flat out to deal with them and some activities will be realised,” he added.
The government has been carrying out the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (ERRP) as they repair road networks across the country as road infrastructure development has been named as an enabler of economic growth.
Last week, Member of Parliament for Bulawayo South Constituency who is also the Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce Cde Raj Modi was seen filling up potholes along Lobengula Street in the Central Business District saying roads in the city needed urgent attention. He also encouraged everyone in the city to work together to make a difference.
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