BY BOKANI MUDIMBA
After attaining city status in December 2020, the Victoria Falls City Council says turning the resort town into a green city is a priority.
But residents feel divorced from the plan because they were not consulted on the green city’s strategic plan now awaiting implementation.
“It is not clear how residents will participate in this strategic plan yet we should know what role we will have to play as ratepayers,” Johnson Ndlovu, a senior resident said
“Residents are ratepayers and should be concerned and be involved.
“Green city is a new term that is coming up, which needs to be explained to people through education by council.
“There is a need for a platform to air views and have roles and expectations explained,” he said.
Residents said council must consult people at the grassroots as they were the most affected by the plan.
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“Women and youth are the worst affected when there is poor service delivery resulting from poor planning and lack of consultation,” said Nomqhele Siziba, director of Youth Invest, a trust that deals with interests of women and youth in Victoria Falls.
Siziba said by not involving women and youth in the consultation processes, council was creating a development gap.
“The ordinary resident should be educated on what a strategic plan is and how they can be involved,” she said.
“This extends to usage of funds like devolution funds because mostly no consultation is made and people just see projects being done.
“People that hold public office should remember that they get power from citizens who should be included in planning and people themselves should also demand meaningful participation especially the youth so, we cultivate a culture of civic engagement.”
Council has in the past clashed with residents who have accused the local authority of failing to engage them.
Mayor Somveli Dlamini said the local authority was reviewing its strategic plan to fit into the green-city plan.
A green city, also referred to as eco-city or smart city, is a modern urban area where there is promotion of sustainable service provision and development is done with consideration for socio-economic and environmental impact on existing populations and future generations.
“We want to speed up the review process of our strategic plan so that we align it with the green city strategy and the National Development Strategy (NDS1) to improve service delivery,” Dlamini said
The NDS1 is the government’s five-year blueprint launched by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in 2020.
Council management has been courting investors, and has also engaged public service consultants in the crafting of the strategic plan.
The strategic plan will guide the local authority in its environmental management drive towards achieving goals for a smart green city status through promoting the use of renewable energy sources including solar power.
This is aimed at preserving the environment and attracting wildlife closer to tourists and boosting revenue generation as Victoria Falls’ economy is solely dependent on tourism.
Council will also establish community policing structures to promote localised management of natural resources through participation of residents.
The tourism city envisions becoming Africa’s leading green destination through mainstreaming global warming and climate change issues in its strategic plan.
Council also wants Victoria Falls to be the first city in the country to have reliable clean portable running water under a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (Wash) project.
“The US$15 million Wash project involves overhauling the towns’ water and sewer reticulation management system,” said city engineer Sherinah Sibanda says.
The Wash project has been failing to take off for a number of years because of lack of funding.
“In our planning, we are saying buffer zones should be maintained as animal corridors so that we become a clean or green city,” said town clerk Ronnie Dube.
“We conceived our strategic plan in 2018 and we are doing a review now so that we have a clear plan that we can align to central government programmes.
“Central government does the planning and budgeting and all programmes are naturally implemented at a local level which is why we want to review our five-year strategic plan.”
The city’s population is estimated to have grown beyond 40 000 from around 33 000 in 2012 while infrastructure has not been upgraded.
Victoria Falls Combined Residents Association chairperson Kelvin Moyo says the strategic plan should have the input of residents.
“We are looking forward to seeing it implemented,” Moyo said.
“The key thing is service delivery and this can only happen if there is a clear strategic plan.”
Tourism operators want the council to speed up the process of crafting its blueprint to manage environmentally harmful practices such as haphazard construction developments that are affecting tourism.
There have been several infrastructural developments in the city despite Victoria Falls being a world heritage site which should be kept in its pristine state.
The buffer zone that used to act as an animal corridor between the highway and human settlement has been destroyed due to the construction developments.
“We need a clear masterplan showing ‘red zones’ and areas of no development so that we game corridors in and around the town,” Yvonne Handles, a tourism executive added.
* This article was originally published by The Citizen Bulletin, a nonprofit news organisation that produces hard-hitting, hyperlocal reporting and analysis for the southwestern region of Matabeleland.
