Back to Index

Harare City Council should rehabilitate recreational facilities
Harare Residents Trust (HRT)
September 21, 2009

The Harare Residents Trust (HRT) is disturbed by the continued neglect and dilapidation of the council recreational facilities in most of Harare's high density suburbs which had led to an increase in crime and immoral behaviour among youths in these communities.

Most of the facilities are in a shocking state of collapse because of failure by the Harare City Council to maintain them denying residents especially children a conducive environment to undertake recreational activities in their communities.

For a long time, the HCC has failed to put up a sustainable programme to protect and rehabilitate these facilities. This has given room to vagrants and thieves to vandalise them for small monetary gains. The dilapidated community structures include community halls, playgrounds, social clubs and swimming pools have become an eyesore. In some suburbs these structures have become dangerous for use by children.

The absence of proper facilities has denied children and the youth the opportunity to develop themselves through undertaking sporting activities essential for human development. As a result these youths and children of school going age now spend valuable time milling the streets and engaging in depraved activities such as drug abuse and prostitution.

Elders have not been spared. In a quest to entertain themselves they now spend their time drinking beer and engaging in immoral behaviour, creating fertile opportunistic infections, extra-marital affairs, shebeens, forcing the breakdown of marriages and spreading of HIV/Aids among other problems.

It has been realised that boys under the age of 15 have end up committing delinquent crimes while girls in the same age group fall pregnant, creating teenage parents. This has largely been attributed to lack of functional recreational facilities and activities to keep these children pre-occupied.

The HRT, however positively acknowledges the intervention by some non governmental organisations who are initiating activities such as drama clubs, netball and social soccer clubs meant for youths in some selected communities.

It is also disturbing to note that corrupt city council personnel have disregarded existing plans for future development of recreation infrastructure on reserved open spaces by approving infill allocation of residential and business stands on these pieces of land. This is unacceptable and the HCC should investigate this and the perpetrators should be exposed and brought to book.

The HRT urges the HCC to ensure that all recreational facilities are rehabilitated to ensure that residents have enough recreational facilities that promote children's physical development and moral upbringing.

We are also urging residents to lead by example by protecting the existing infrastructure and report vandalism to the police or institute citizen's arrest to anyone found tempering with facilities at all recreational centres around the suburbs of Harare.

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP