KAROI residents have been urged to be part of service delivery mandate to keep their town clean.
The call was made by Karoi Town Council chairperson Alderman Kudakwashe Chigumo during a stakeholders meeting, which included residents.
“Karoi Town Council is open to dialogue and we believe residents have solutions for local authority development,” he said.
“We definitely need citizen engagement. It is key and critical.”
The meeting was facilitated by the Media Centre in collaboration with Hurungwe Community Radio Initiative aimed at reducing conflict, and also see social development in communities.
A local resident, Mavis Madzore, highlighted the challenges of uncollected garbage mostly in high-density suburbs such as Chikangwe and Chiedza.
“The uncollected garbage is an eyesore everywhere,” she said.
“With the current rainy season it is a health time bomb.
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“Does council have a schedule of refuse collection or it’s done randomly?”
Zimbabwe Chamber of Informal Economy Associations Karoi territory president Florence Chakabvapasi bemoaned the non-availability of essential facilities, including toilets in Chikangwe.
“Council has made a lot of promises, but nothing tangible has been done for vendors. The tobacco selling season is the busiest time, but vendors have no proper places to operate from,” she said.
“We need assistance from council so that all our members benefit from the council development agenda.
“There are not enough toilets in the central business district and the tobacco selling season will bring more harm than good for vendors and town at large.”
Trust Urengwa, from Progressive Karoi Residents Association, blamed the council over “misplaced” priorities on the road rehabilitation programe.
“We are in between. How can we be assured to get assistance?” he asked.
Chigumo welcomed such dialogue with stakeholders.
“As council, we are committed to conversation that props up development in our communities. Small to medium enterprise is part of national economic growth, so we can’t leave them out,” he said.
“My appeal is for everyone to play their own role by paying. We are charging a dollar per day. This will help us build confidence in your system.
“The local government sector has drastically changed and shifted in structure and form. It keeps changing in variants to meet the expectations and unquenched appetites for service delivery by the citizens.
“More importantly various tools are being deployed to ensure the job is not only done but done right.”
Chigumo further explained that the council is working closely with the central government to address residents’ needs.
“We have the Call to Action BluePrint.
“We have performance contracts in place and we work with everyone to prop up development.”
Hurungwe Community Radio Initiative chairperson Joel Zilala said such meetings are healthy for social development.
“Our mandate is to facilitate dialogue among citizens for development,” he said.
“Our thrust will enhance accountability, transparency and social cohesion in communities.”
The Media Centre facilitated the conversation, that is aimed at keeping service providers accountable to clients.
