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Are you being served? Service and returns in Harare
Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA)
Extracted from The Resident, Issue 40
August 27, 2004

The once sunshine city has been decried over and over again by residents and ratepayers. There seems to be no solution in sight at the moment, what with councillors now being expected to sit in more than one committee and residents in the wards that lost their councillors expected to sit by the sidelines and pray for the best.

The Herald ( 09 August 2004) reports that residents are concerned about the state of the Central Business District. Harare City Council has stated that it lacks the adequate resources to carry out periodic maintenance of the streets. Trucks to carry the waste to the dumps and bins to allow residents and other visitors to dispose of their waste in the city are all in short supply. When raw sewer that streams down the streets on weks unending, residents watch their hard earned resources being thron to waste in utter dismay.

Efforts by the Resident Minister, Witness Mangwende to get the city clean have lost steam and degenerated into rhetoric. The Herald states that in April the Minister gave the Business Community a three month ultimatum to renovate their buildings or be closed down by government. Five months down the line the buildings still stand and the Minister has not made any comment about the situation.

Residents' complaints go unheeded as the city continues to succumb to daily filth and deterioration. The City Council's inability to keep the city clean as a result of staff shortage and lack of adequate equipment is unacceptable as the waste is finding its way into the city's water system, thereby further compounding the water reticulation problems that Harare is facing.

The Resident is of the opinion that service delivery in the city needs to be evaluated and solutions brought to the fore. Current efforts by the Harare City Council are mediocre, and the regime's attempt to console residents with political rhetoric will only dampen the people's spirits and increase the potential hazards. Its only a matter of time before the bomb explodes.

Questions remain. What are you doing when raw sewer flows on the street? What are you doing as dirty water trickles down your tap? What are your neighbours doing about it? Get in touch with other residents in your area and voice your concern. Do not be a mercenary to the community. Stand up and make a change. Write to info@chra.co.zw with your opinion on this issue.

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