Midlands Correspondent
Following residents and business stakeholders outcry on service delivery and rates reduction, Her Worship the Mayor Angeline Kasipo has set the roadmap on key sectors of local governance.
“Our roads have been in a bad state and worsened by the 2020-2021 excessive rainfall. We have received and we continue to receive daily reports of residents complaining about the bad state of roads especially the busy road stretch from the main round about (Moslem church) towards PG COMPLEX.
Government has seen the problem and the Ministry of Transport held a tour, promising that they will renovate the distance from main round about in town to Mbizo section 22” said Kasipo.
Currently the Zimbabwe National Road Authority has released funds towards road rehabilitation to almost all councils in Zimbabwe with some failing to account for the amount given against the service rendered.
Kasipo told councillors and the media that she is expecting the Ministry of Transport response early next month.
The roads picked up by transport ministry include Amaveni road, Kaguvi road in Newtown, CBD roads, Cobber street from the robot section to the industry, Bessmer street from Petrol Trade filling station to Lancashire steel.
The mayors statement revealed the inability of ZINARA in dispatching funds to Kwekwe City Council due to the budget procedures that they do on the wake of every year. She remarked that such developments from ZINARA are real setbacks.
Kwekwe city council will renovate railway road along Kwekwe Polytechnic before the end of the year using its coffers and work is expected to start before this years rainy seasons.
Mayor Kasipo promised residents that council will look in the quarterly budgets and come up with rate reduction.
“On the issue of rates, we assure you that we shall look into our budgets. Its only that these quarterly plans were disturbed by covid 19 but we are going to make some adjustments,” she said.
The circumstances of the report by Mayor Kasipo understand that water source, Sebakwe Dam is always full through out the year but half century old water supply pumps hamper proper water delivery.
“Looking at the macro economic fundamentals in Zimbabwe at the moment, it is very difficult for us council to shift to modern water supply. We as council shall continue with repairs though we find it difficult in Mbizo section 15 and some sections in ward 7,” said Mayor Kasipo.
She hiwever bemoaned poor refuse collection fleet, a long living problem that has risen a lot of eyebrows from environmentalists and residents.
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