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Residents should demand their money for refuse collection
Pretty Chabuda, Harare Residents Trust (HRT)
September 06, 2010

The City of Harare must consider how it will deal with residents of the capital for all the money they billed them for refuse collection without providing this service since 2008. While it is agreed that the situation then was volatile, the City of Harare has continued with its business without admitting that they took away residents' money without providing the service. It is imperative that they come out clean for the sake of peace, prosperity and development. Despite the commissioning of refuse collection trucks by the City of Harare early this year, several residential areas are yet to witness refuse collection in their neighbourhoods. Garbage continues to pile in the backyards of residential homes, undesignated open spaces, and street corners and even in parts of the Central Business District.

In terms of the Urban Councils' Act (Chapter 29:15), the City of Harare has a mandate to provide refuse collection services to the citizens. But since 2008 refuse have not been properly disposed of due to the reported breakdown of most refuse collection trucks. However, the City of Harare continued to bill citizens for that unavailable service. There is no longer justification for failure to collect garbage in our homes, streets and business places.

A closer look at the way they have carried out their refuse collection in the areas they do, shows that the council refuse collection is selective and cursory in nature. The trucks drive fast along residential streets, not giving people enough time to bring their refuse bins, if they have them at all.

Presently, refuse heaps are visible around shopping centres, street corners and in the city centres. The situation has become worse in the high density areas where residents have resorted to burning refuse heaps, polluting the air and damaging the environment.

If the municipality has finally decided to provide us with this service, they must do it properly, without trying to hoodwink us by simply making their refuse trucks available in our areas, only to leave without actually removing all the refuse.

The Council should fulfil its mandate and not wait for the residents to complain. The Council has positively responded to the refuse collection concerns raised by residents in areas like Mbare, Mabvuku, Glen View, and Highfield and a few others, covering around 20 percent of the city's suburbs.

The City Council should streamline its activities, AND focus on areas that directly benefit the residents. Instead, the City of Harare has engaged in a bitter war of words with the Minister of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development over petty administrative issues, at the expense of ratepayers, without directing their energies at improving service provision.

The decision makers and policy makers must demonstrate their capacity to transform City of Harare from a rundown institution to a model public utility run on the principles of good governance, transparency and accountability. They have to show the electorate that they can do things differently from the previous illegal commission that ran the affairs of Harare before the March 2008 Harmonised Elections that survived on abuse of office and authority. Nepotism and corruption have become endemic among the rank and file of the administration. Residents pay their rates based on what they perceive. but right now residents feel the City of Harare is not doing enough yet they might be doing very good things which are being overshadowed by the messy surrounding the residents.

For details and comments please contact the Harare Residents' Trust (HRT) on +263 912 869 294, +263 733 296 806 or email us on hretrust@yahoo.com / hretrust79@gmail.com

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