BULAWAYO’s ward 25 councillor Aleck Ndlovu has implored government to reconsider its decision to nationalise car licensing and power generation, saying this had resulted in poor service delivery in the city.
Ndlovu told Southern Eye that the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) once had its own car licensing department which generated funds for road maintenance.
“The challenge is that the government has nationalised power generation to form Zimbabwe Power Company or Zesa Holdings. We had our own power station which generated enough power for our industry, this is no longer the case,” Ndlovu said.
“We had our own car licensing department, which generated enough revenue for our road maintenance and water drainage system; the government decided to amend the laws and replaced it with the National Roads Administration (Zinara) which is not (disbursing) enough funds for our road rehab(ilitation) programme.’’
According to Ndlovu, roads cutting across the central business district to other part of the city and country are now lacking maintenance because of poor funding.
“For example the area around Belmont area along Plumtree road, that stretch has been made impassable due to potholes. It is a State road and BCC’s hands are tied. We cannot use the ratepayer’s money to fix such roads because they are not enough. The government must re-empower local authorities so that they are able to generate own revenues in order to improve service delivery,’’ he said.
Contacted for comment, Bulawayo provincial affairs director for co-ordination Boetsoarelo Noko said she needed time to consult on the matter.
“I will need to consult those responsible for power generation and Zinara to get facts and figures before giving a feedback,” Noko said.Breast cancer awareness: Losing a relative to breast cancer and witnessing her struggles prompted me to put together elements that African women would be able to relate with. I was encouraging women to get breast cancer screening in October last year, which is also breast cancer awareness month.
- Uproar over census figures
- Byo Arts Festival in turmoil…One year later, festival has yet to pay artists…Organisers play cat and mouse with artists
- Bulawayo struggles to clear housing backlog
- Council acts tough on debts
