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Mbare residents concerned with state of service provision in Harare
Harare Residents Trust (HRT)
August 18, 2009

Report of the Mbare Residents' Trust meeting held on 9 August 2009

Introduction of the HRT Model

The Chairperson of the Mbare Residents' Trust (MRT) Ms Eunice Wakatama opened the meeting with a prayer and introduced her leadership. She said it was a movement established in February 2008 to advocate for quality service provision for the residents of Harare and also lobby policy makers to be sensitive on issues which affect residents. These issues include the provision of clean water; refuse collection, affordable housing, access to affordable well resourced health facilities, and the need for affordable education among others.

She said membership to the HRT and its suburban structures was open to anyone who shares its mission, vision and objectives and does not discriminate membership on the grounds of religion or political affiliation. The main objective of the organization was to represent all residents of Harare and ensure that their living standards are improved.

Issues raised by residents

1) Status of the hostels
Residents said living conditions in the hostels have deteriorated to unacceptable standards. There is need for swift intervention by the relevant authorities to avert a humanitarian crisis. They said the hostels were built in the 50's as accommodation for male workers in the industrial areas. However, over the years they were turned into family accommodation units. Facilities in these hostels can no longer accommodate the huge number of people including children. On average eight people were living in these single rooms subdivided by plastic sheets and wooden boxes.

2) Toilets and water supply
1 Most of the toilets are dysfunctional. This has forced residents to use buckets to flush the toilets. The toilets are always dirty and overflowing and city council employees assigned to clean the toilets often neglect their duties.
2 The supply of water is erratic. Residents sometimes fetch water from shallow wells along Mukuvisi River for drinking and washing purposes.
3 The aging water pipes have resulted in endless leakages. Large quantities of treated water is lost daily through these burst pipes.

3) Sewage and refuse collection
- Sewage is flowing all over Matapi, Nenyere and Shawasha Hostels posing a serious health risk to children and even adults.

1 Although there was an improvement in the collection of refuse during the past few months, heaps of uncollected garbage have resurfaced.
2 Generally the whole area is an eyesore and there is need for massive clean up campaigns. The onset of the rain season might actually see the emergence of cholera in this community which house an estimated population of 50 000 people.

3) Rentals
Residents said the rentals they are required to pay for the one roomed hostels are unaffordable. All residents have received bills with amounts averaging US$540.00 per room backdated to February 2009. On average each tenant is required to pay about $90.00 a month which they said is unaffordable. The majority of people living in the hostels are unemployed. The few luck ones still employed earn meagre monthly wages averaging $100. Some residents in Matapi and Tagarika hostels have already received final demand letters from the council to pay these huge bills in full. In some Shawasha Hostels four families share a room. Each family has to pay $90 a month as rental which amounts to $280 in rentals to be paid to Harare City Council. This is unacceptable to residents. It was agreed at the meeting that the HRT should urgently write a letter to the Mayor of Harare expressing concern over the outrageous rentals being demanded by the City of Harare, despite the poor living conditions.

4) Matapi Hostel fire victims
A total of 18 families from Matapi Flats whose houses were destroyed by fire in January 2009 are living in squalid conditions in one of the halls in Shawasha hostels. This unfortunate incident happened after an electric fault developed in one of the rooms in Block 4 Matapi hostel. The victims lost valuables including household equipment and clothes. The living standards are deplorable. The families have subdivided rooms using plastic papers while those without sleep on the floors. Parents and children are forced to sleep in the same room and this is cultural unacceptable. The families have failed to get meaningful assistance and are surviving from hand to mouth. They are appealing to the Harare City council to either allocate them stands or find decent alternative accommodation elsewhere.

5) Fees and levies
Children attending primary schools in this area are required to pay $1 each per week as a transport subsidy to teachers and those who fail to pay are sent home. These transport subsidies are over and above the required levies and schools fees. Most children who failed to pay fees and levies did not get their reports for this term. Parents agreed that schools should stop asking children to give them transport subsidies because the government adjusted their salaries in July 2009. The MRT considers these acts as discrimination on the basis of poverty, depriving the children their right to education.

Ms. Wakatama advised the participants that residents needed to participate in the constitutional reform exercise and the MRT in collaboration with the HRT will organise meetings to education residents and get their inputs on issues to be incorporated in the new constitution.

Mrs. Rudo Mudheyi, the MRT treasurer, said there was need for members to make financial contributions to enable the smooth running of their organization. Members are required to pay a joining fee of $1 but those who can afford can donate more in cash or kind.

Any Other Business:

A request was made to the leadership to be punctual for meetings to instil confidence among the membership on their commitment to the organization.

Recommendations:

Dilapidated hostel accommodation
2 The issue of the state of the hostels has to be urgently brought to the attention of the City of Harare.
3 The HRT should engage the authorities and work out on immediate intervention to improve the lives of the marginalised people living in the hostels.
4 There is need to carry out civic education among residents on the need for responsible citizenry and protect existing community infrastructure, which continues to be vandalised.
5 The HRT should initiate partnerships with the donor and business community to carry out programmes targeted at uplifting the entire hostel infrastructure.
6 Residents can be levied a nominal fee of $5 towards repairs of the dilapidated buildings, toilets and recreational facilities, and their accounts credited at month-end.
7 Joint community clean up campaigns with City of Harare, business and residents will provide their labour. The Business community can provide refreshments and t-shirts while the City of Harare will provide vehicles and equipment.

Rentals

8 Residents want the City of Harare to give a blanket amnesty to defaulting residents, and agree on a start off date to commence payments, in line with the time the budget was finally implemented.
9 Alternatively, residents suggest they can pay US$30 a month until incomes and the general economic situation improves.

Displaced families

10 There is need to approach donors and other partners to assist the families who were displaced in Matapi with materials support such as food stuffs, blankets and schools fees for children. Other partners can provide alternative decent accommodation.

End of Meeting:

There being no further business the meeting ended with a prayer by Jazi Arimando. The next meeting will be held on 22 August 2009 at a venue to be advised on time.

For details and comments on this report please contact Ms Eunice Wakatama on 023252622/0913398033 or email us on mbaretrust@yahoo.com or hretrust@yahoo.com

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