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Residents urge government to tighten up on health services
Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA)
July 09, 2010

Residents have blamed poor health services on the government's failure to inspect and assess public hospitals. Over the past months residents have passed complaints about lack of diligent medical staff as they allege that hospital standards are reducing drastically largely due to the increase in incompetent nurses and doctors. Various excuses are given to patients that are admitted for days without any doctor's consultation but none are heard when patients fail to pay monies for consultation or other medical fees which are abnormal. Health facilities are also beginning to commercialise and have become business entities whose sole purpose is to generate money at the expense of ailing residents.

Residents insist that Bulawayo City Council is dragging its feet in fixing the roads

Bulawayo residents have said that it is about time the Bulawayo City Council paid more attention to filling potholes, demarcating roads and repairing dysfunctional robots. Residents recall that the last time when BCC made visible efforts to repair roads was during the Trade Fair period. The job was also poorly done as rain washed away most of the sand used to fill potholes and the tar laid thereafter. Residents have insisted that Council must subcontract other companies that have since relocated to Botswana, as bad roads cost not only the city's image, but also contribute to accidents. Paint that marks zebra crossings is no longer visible and has led to a number of accidents especially adjacent to schools. Residents have implored the city council to improve the roads before more lives are lost because of the local authority's negligence.

Residents and school authorities still at loggerheads over incentives

The subject of teachers' incentives is still raging havoc as some residents say they cannot afford and deplore government's inactivity. Many residents in Bulawayo have for long stated that the system is discriminatory as some pupils are not able to pay and have since advocated for the abolition of the scheme. The Minister of Education has been in the news stating that there should be reforms, but even the newly re-introduced BEAM scheme is also prone to manipulation. The confusion over incentives continues despite the minister's sentiments that school authorities, development committees and parents may reach a suitable agreement which may not be uniform in all schools but satisfactory to all three parties.

Companies fail to remunerate residents sufficiently

Bulawayo residents whose employers have not sufficiently remunerated them despite the country's slow economic recovery have come forward to say the respective authorities should look into such issues. Security Mills Group employees that have not been paid for the past 17 months have been suspended for demanding their right to be remunerated for the services they offer. Like all residents these employees fear being cut off for failure to pay bills. Some of them have said that they receive antiretroviral treatment, need balanced meals and regular medical attention of which under the current circumstances they cannot attain any of these. Recently there have been calls by residents that the company be liquidated and the produce given to employees.

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