HARARE mayor Jacob Mafume has applauded public-private partnerships (PPPs) that led to the timely completion of the temporary market at Mbare Musika.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa is expected to officially open the market on Friday this week.
Several ministers visited the market ahead of the official opening.
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a full council meeting held at Town House recently, Mafume said PPPs were key to Harare's development.
“It could not have been possible if we were doing it alone. We would still be discussing building a market in Mbare as we are stuck at the Coca-Cola corner, which is a market we were supposed to build ourselves. We have engaged in other public-private partnerships that have been useful to the city,” Mafume said.
“Our hybrid for City Parking has been quite useful in terms of revenue obtained and managing the streets of Harare and dealing with the parking space and congestion.
“There are other public-private partnerships that have not performed as we thought they should, but some of them achieved.”
He noted the flats in Ardbennie that are being built by the ABDC Trust in partnership with the City of Harare which provided land.
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“The flats being built by that organisation have benefited the residents, not necessarily the city council, but it is work in progress. We are going to go into public-private partnerships on smart meters,” he said.
Mafume said the city had plans to expand such partnerships to the introduction of smart metering technologies and road improvements.
“As you are aware, most of our roads that were repaired for the Sadc summit and also in Dzivarasekwa and Kambuzuma were done by the private sector and people are using those roads so I do believe that it is a mixed bag and we have to continue working at it.
“A city is never built with the ratepayers' money alone. It is built by the private sector; it is built by government and by investment. And we have to exploit and also through loans, we have to exploit all financial mechanisms that are available to a modern city to come up with a winning formula,” he said.
Mafume said they would engage the private sector for the rehabilitation of Matapi, Matererini and other flats in Mbare.
“We must exploit all available resources to formulate a winning strategy for our city's future,” he said.
Meanwhile, council spokesperson Stanley Gama said Harare would immediately adopt a comprehensive approach in spraying areas affected by an outbreak of fleas in Mbare.
“We have confirmed the existence of bed bug tsikidzi infestation in Mbare and the City of Harare Pest Control section has already been on the ground to assess the situation with a view of mobilising equipment and resources needed to attend to the bed bugs,” he said.
“The teams will also be conducting awareness campaigns on factors that accelerate such infestations, such as overcrowding and how to prevent infestation even in overcrowded areas. Community volunteers will be required for optimum spraying coverage.”
