In the community
Poor service delivery, lack of transparency cost Hwange residents:GWRT
BY LWANDLE MTHUNZI
Hwange residents have complained about poor service delivery by the Hwange Local Board (HLB) , especially public toilets which are a health hazard.
Hwange and Victoria Falls are the only urban areas in Matabeleland North.
In a statement, Greater Whange Residents Trust (GWRT) said residents are worried about poor service and lack of transparency in the local authority.
“Greater Whange Residents Trust has noted with concern the deterioration of service delivery both in Hwange Local Board and concession areas in 2022, notably in Empumalanga West and public toilets,” said GWRT.
Hwange town is administered by various authorities including HLB which presides over Empumalanga, Chibondo and Baobab areas, Hwange Colliery which administers all concession areas covering Number 1, 2, 3 and 5,
National Railways of Zimbabwe that oversees Railways and Nguminja areas as well as Zimbabwe Power Company whose area of jurisdiction covers suburbs around the power station.
There are plans to integrate all the areas into one local authority under HLB which is set to become a town.
However, it is the old dysfunctional public toilets in the concession areas that have irked residents.
Each public toilet is shared by not less than 100 people and hardly has running water as residents use the bucket system.
The Railways section has been without water and electricity for several months on end.
Residents fear they might be exposed to diseases.
Roads are also in a sorry state.
GWRT chairman Brian Chikumbo said the issue of toilets is a cause for concern.
“Public toilets are a challenge in the concession areas that are under Hwange Colliery while the HLB has been failing on servicing land for people to start building houses in Empumalanga,” he said.
He said a majority of the homeseekers had paid to the council for housing stands but still cannot access them to start building.
“In Empumalanga it is of great concern that it has taken a long time for progress to happen. People are not allowed to build and the reasons being cited being that the place is not yet ready according to
Government regulations.
“The local authority has to be honest and come forward to tell people what really needs to be done. We need transparency to highlight what is exactly hindering progress, ”he said.
Chikumbo said surprisingly, there are some that have built houses and blamed this on corruption.
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