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Service delivery thermometer
Bulawayo Progressive
Residents Association (BPRA)
September 14, 2012
As a means of
gauging the performance of various service providers in the city,
Bulawayo progressive Residents Association shall be releasing occasional
service delivery thermometers to rate the quality of service delivery
against the rates residents are paying for them. The gauge will
focus on quality of service, consistency, professionalism, adherence
to governing statutes amongst other things. This week focus is on
the Bulawayo City Council (BCC), the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply
Authority (ZESA) and Zimbabwe's health sector.
BCC:
Two months ago the BCC introduced a water shedding programme for
the city's residential areas. The shedding began with 48hour
water cuts per week but as the situation worsened the period was
extended to 72 hours per week. This has not exempted defaulting
residents from being disconnected from water supplies and has resulted
in long unending queues at community boreholes. The health risks
are also very high as some residents have taken to using the bushes
as toilets to avoid using the little water they collect in toilets.
Pressure on the city's water pipes is also increasing with
a high number of water and sewerage pipe bursts which is causing
a lot of clean water to be wasted and raw sewerage to flow in the
township streets where children play. While there have been calls
by civic society groups and activists to declare Bulawayo a water
crisis area, some have argued that this would entail that other
areas like Harare, which have enough water catchment areas but are
facing water problems to also be declared water crisis areas even
if the crisis is not similar to that of Bulawayo. As such the water
service in Bulawayo is currently very poor and strenuous to the
health environment with little end in sight for the current crisis.
ZESA:
Despite the onset of the summer and the expected relief on power
cuts since it is now warmer, the Zimbabwe power company's
power cuts in residential areas continue to be severe. Some areas
are being disconnected from power for as many as three times in
one day for hours at a time. ZESA recently announced that it would
be increasing its shedding as it was now carrying out annual maintenance
work at its Hwange Power Station. At the same time, numerous households
in Bulawayo remain without electricity after being disconnected
for outstanding bills while more continue to be disconnected as
the parastatal installs pre-paid meters in households. ZESA has
not improved on its current power generation methods and has not
proffered ideas on how it plans to increase power generation in
the future in order to reduce load shedding. This is discouraging
to many residents that have been paying bills monthly but are still
subject to power cuts.
Health
Services: While Zimbabwe's health services seemed
to improve in 2009 after the adoption of the United States dollar
and the formation of a compromise government in Zimbabwe, the situation
is slowly deteriorating again as the profession has been hit with
a shortage of qualified nurses due to lack of funds and a lack of
adequate health facilities especially for citizens in the rural
areas. In Bulawayo the use of the rand more than the US dollar is
having a serious effect on residents who are having to pay more
when their money is cross rated. Many residents have also complained
that health facilities are too far from where they stay and the
services are so poor that most of the time they are given the same
medication (pain killers) for all ailments. A back track by the
Ministry of Health to scrap maternity fees for expectant mothers
has not help things as health centres are now confused as to how
to assist residents seeking services on whether to make them pay
or continue giving them a free service. The health sector is in
no doubt still in major doldrums. Despite it being unauthorized,
Mpilo Hospital authorities have been fingered for detaining mothers
or denying them their children's birth records for failure
to cover their maternity costs.
Given the above
scenarios it is safe to say that basic services are out of reach
for most ordinary Zimbabweans and that the situation is becoming
worse instead of getting better.
Visit the Bulawayo
Progressive Residents Association fact
sheet
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