By Tavita Natasha Mpala
The Zimbabwe Union of Journalist recently held a Masvingo Press Club discussion on post elections review to map out resident’s expectations of their new leadership.
In an interview with the publication local businessman Mr. Ignatius Mazambani stated that there is a great need to revised licensing fees and improved initiative from the Council to create policies that grow local businesses.
“I’ve been running a private family run business for the past 20 years, from running seven shops to downsizing to three because of the hostile environment towards business in Masvingo. We are suffering because we are operating as a formal entity in an informal sector. We also need the city council to ease life for business owners to promote growth and investment. My shops are at residential areas and we compete with informal tuck-shops that pay no rent, licenses or taxes, yet we are charged hefts rents and our water is billed at commercial rates. We implore the Councilors to have a fair policy also when it comes to allocation of commercial stands, we always apply but we are never considered even for interviews because we don’t have shinny pockets.”
In a separate interview, Masvingo City Council Deputy Mayor Daniel Mberikunashe stated that they are taking note of the resident’s concerns and they are working towards fulfilling service delivery in all areas.
“As a leader that has been reelected l understand the concerns of the residents when it comes to access to water. We thought of establishing solar system, generators for us to use an alternative, we got the quotations but the amount was expensive. We consulted the public from ward 1 to 10 and they were against it, if there is no electricity we won’t be able to pump water. There are points in our piping system that succumb to pressure that led to continuous leaks and pipe bursts. We have since established other points which release pressure with an aim to reduce pipe bursting. Our biggest challenge is that we are still using old systems of accessing water.”
He went to attest to the success stories that the City Council has seen in the previous term.
“Even the representatives from the resident’s unions can confirm that we have completed some of the projects from the previous term. We have rehabilitated roads in various wards that include Ingwe drive in Rujeko, Mharapara in ward 6, Mboroma and Jongwe street in Rhodene. Our biggest challenge is that the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) allocates funds meant for road rehabilitation in rtgs and the disbursement of these funds comes when the inflation rates are high and we cannot meet the target.
It’s my first meeting as a deputy mayor, I’m passionate about the youth and I urge to say no to drug abuse. We have established a gym for the youths for them to abstain from taking drugs with an aim to remove youths from the streets, more projects are coming to keep the youth off the streets.”
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