CHITUNGWIZA residents are benefiting from the projects implemented by the council using devolution funds and are embracing government programmes such as cholera vaccination to fight the disease.
Speaking during a tour of Chitungwiza devolution projects yesterday, Minister of State for Harare Metropolitan Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Charles Tawengwa, said the municipality had heeded President Mnangagwa’s call to action in providing quality service to the people.
He toured St. Mary’s cholera treatment centre, the St. Mary’s collapsed sewer line rehabilitation project, the Ward 3 Zengeza sewer line rehabilitation project, the Zengeza 3 Extension sewer de-silting project, Unit J behind Seke 8 Primary School, and Unit C junction traffic lights and sewer line rehabilitation projects.
“I am pleased with the work that the municipality is doing here in Chitungwiza. As President Mnangagwa, the works being carried out under devolution should scale down to the lowest level so that residents would see that their money is being put to good use,” he said.
“They have also bought machines for road rehabilitation, a fire tender that they received from those that came from Belarus, and refuse compactors, which is highly impressive. I am also very happy that the residents embraced the cholera vaccination programme, which we launched in Kuwadzana, Harare, to prevent people from getting cholera.”
Minister Tawengwa said he had witnessed the replacement of sewer pipes in St. Mary’s. The place had experienced sewer bursts for a long time, but the council, using devolution funds, has replaced the old pipes with new plastic pipes.
“We hope that sewer bursts will be a thing of the past in Chitungwiza,” he said.
Chitungwiza Mayor Rosaria Mangoma said they were committed to improving service delivery in line with President Mnangagwa’s call to action.
“The devolution projects that we have toured are a testimony that the council is serious about moving Chitungwiza towards an upper-middle-income economy (by 2030),” she said.
“Chitungwiza has been battling perennial sewer challenges due to collapsed sewer infrastructure, erratic water supply, acts of sabotage, illegal sewer connections, and the construction of houses on main trunk lines. The town has an aged and dilapidated sewer network that is 650km in length,” she said.
Cllr. Mangoma said insufficient and unreliable water supplies worsened the sewer challenges in the town.
In what appears to be an act of sabotage, dead animals, rags, and bricks were found in the sewer system during de-blocking exercises.
During the process of de-blocking the Seke 6,5km main sewer line, sacks of spoons were removed from the pipes.
Residents have since been encouraged to refrain from discharging sand, diapers, and sanitary pads that block the system.
“The sand discharged into our sewer structure by residents every day can fill a tipper truck. In St. Mary’s, the infrastructure had collapsed, with only traces of the sewer line left.
“All this prompted us to channel the devolution funds disbursed by the Central Government towards rehabilitating the sewer lines. As part of our plan to decongest roads, we installed robots at C-Junction that you commissioned and put pavers at that intersection.”
Cllr. Mangoma said their vision was to transform Chitungwiza into a smart city by 2030, and in the coming years, they will have more traffic lights and traffic cameras.
The Herald
