THE Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has collected more than US$2 000 while it is still owed over US$3 000 in environment violation fines, a latest council report on the parks section has revealed.
According to the report, BCC director of housing and community services Dictor Khumalo reported on the degradation of water catchment areas and joint patrols conducted by council rangers and the Esigodini police.
The report indicated that seven illegal gold panners were arrested and handed over to the Esigodini courts for prosecution.
“This brought the total number of arrests since January to 23. Also, 49 tools were confiscated, including 2 detector machines and handed over to Esigodini police as exhibits during the month,” the report read.
“Furthermore, 86 surveillance patrols were conducted during the month under review, which brought the total number of surveillance patrols to 420 from January to date.”
The report further indicated that extended patrols had been conducted around the city covering illegal mining, sand poaching and wood harvesting.
During these patrols, five trucks were impounded for extracting sand without the consent of responsible authorities.
“Sixty-one tickets were issued to the offenders for various offences and 36 tickets had been paid for, amounting to a total of US$2 623,88. Twenty-five tickets are outstanding with a total value of US$ 3 346,39,” the report said.
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Council said rangers, police and farmers jointly conducted an operation against wood poaching and other environmentally-unfriendly activities on April 12 this year.
“As a result, five trucks, one van, a Honda Fit, and five scotch carts were impounded. In addition, on April 30, BCC rangers, jointly with the fire brigade, conducted an operation against illegal gas dealers, resulting in 22 gas scales being confiscated for violating the city’s environmental regulations,” the report read.
It further indicated that 53 surveillance patrols were conducted during the period under review.
On the sale of pit sand, council said 25 trucks collected sand from the two council extraction sites, collecting US$290 in revenue.
Council said there was a great need for the works department to repair the two roads leading to the pit sand extraction sites to improve revenue collection and curb illegal soil excavation.
The report further indicated that there were stray animals recovered, with donkeys becoming a menace in the city, especially in suburbs such as Cowdray Park, Pumula, Magwegwe North and other areas close to peri-urban zones.
“Land inspectorate department was severely incapacitated to remove the donkeys from the city’s environs due to transport challenges, considering that the rangers' utility truck is still detained at the workshop,” the report read.
