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Service delivery report for February 2013
Harare Residents' Trust (HRT)
March 07, 2013

Introduction

In line with the organisation’s first objective “to empower citizens to demand accountability from council leadership and service providers”, residents are still faced with poor service delivery. Since 2009, some of the residents’ issues should have been resolved, but they remain outstanding. But residents are fully aware of the services that they must receive from the service providers. Residents will continue to demand clean and adequate water supplies, accessible roads, consistent refuse collection, uninterrupted electricity supply, street lighting, good public health, affordable public services and education services.

In 2012, nearly 60 Focus Group Discussions (FGD) were held to educate various communities on their rights, and share experiences on service provision. They are now empowered to demand better services in 2013.

The information contained herein was gathered by Mrs Ronnia Gwaze, an HRT Community Coordinator in line with the HRT’S Mission statement of ‘building capacity for productive engagement among citizens, their elected representatives and service providers as means to improve living standards in communities.’

Roads

• Borrowdale - In Glen Lorne, The following roads have deep pot holes that need immediate attention as shocks and tyres of cars are being damaged-Folyjon crescent, Glen Lorne drive, Lytham and Gainsville Roads.
• Hatfield - A good job has been done on Harare Drive. Other smaller roads are also being patched making the area easily accessible. Road signs in Hatfield have been put up and motorists are happy about this. A black spot along Seke Road and Masotsha Ndlovu has developed and the service providers should attend to this serious issue.
• Avondale - The following roads need attention as residents keep complaining about their state - West, Lawson and Cheryl Roads. They have deep potholes. The place around Parirenyatwa Hospital along Leopold Takawira Street has huge potholes that put motorists and pedestrians at risk of loss of life, and heavy costs on vehicle maintenance.
• Inadequate reparation of roads and drainage systems in 2012 has resulted in roads being washed away e.g. Hatcliffe Extension. In Budiriro 1, drains were not cleared resulting in a child drowning and there was home flooding in houses near the drain at Budiriro 1 Shopping centre.
• A few areas have been attended to but the roads are equally the same in areas like Mount Pleasant and Hatcliffe.

Refuse Collection

Refuse collection is erratic and council does not come on days specified in their schedules prompting the mushrooming of illegal dump sites. If refuse is not collected timely, it is scattered by dogs and vagrants at residential entrances. If they miss the collection day, they usually come on the following day or the following week. Smells emanating from these dumps are a cause for concern to residents adjacent to them for example in Westlea Suburb, north of Warren Park. Mosquitoes breed there and are a health hazard to the community. Other suburbs affected by erratic collection are Avondale, Borrowdale, and Hatfield.

• Mount Pleasant - Refuse collection started in May 2012 and residents used to pay some people us$5.00 to collect their refuse every week, but still got charged by the council for services not rendered. The service has since improved.
• Hatcliffe - There are many people residing at each house and this requires council to increase collection times per week as well as adhering to published timetables. When refuse is collected early in the morning, most of the refuse is left behind and this results in dumps on open areas.

Water Supply

There is inadequate provision of council water in all areas like Glen Lorne, Ballantyne and Greystone Park and they have gone without water for months or years. Residents here continue to buy water (with no proof of inspection) if they have storage facilities. Some residents are given water by neighbours who have boreholes. Water for laundry and sanitation has been from harvesting rain water but it will end as the rainy season is coming to an end.

• Hatcliffe - Queues have been reduced at boreholes in Hatcliffe as the water table has gone up and hand pumping is easier. Council water is not readily available.
• Hatfield - Residents the community coordinator spoke to indicated that they rely on community boreholes and wells, but council water is mostly available.
• Mount Pleasant - One resident, Mr Cleopas Francito uses borehole water but is being charged for Harare council’s water, which he rarely receives. Residents in this area have not received council water for the past three years.
• Since residents are using borehole water, council should test the water for contamination at no cost. Residents are continually being charged fixed water charges and water consumption charges when there is no water coming out of the tap for long periods. The B.I.Q. system being used by the City of Harare disadvantages residents as it charges even when there is no water, and the monitors in the City Treasury lack the expertise to discern these differences.

Health and Education Services

Budiriro District Officer (D.O) Mrs Mandoza is launching a campaign in which non-functioning water meters are being replaced, pipes that normally burst are being sealed and refuse is being removed. The HRT will join hands with council to deliver quality services, and ensure that all dysfunctional water meters are replaced through provision of factual information to stakeholders.

Education services are still to improve in some suburbs e.g. Budiriro and Hatcliffe. In Hatcliffe, there are a lot of private schools and colleges which charge residents too much money beyond the reach of the majority parents who end up sending their children to schools far away. The newly established suburbs do not have council schools and residents are not happy with the sprouting colleges as they do not give quality education.

Electricity

There is an improvement in electricity supplies in all the areas being reviewed but residents need to be educated on how to demand for this service when there is a breakdown. Some three households experienced a breakdown in power supplies and they had no idea how to get in touch with ZESA until the Community Coordinator intervened and educated them on how to go about it, and after about 28 hours electricity were restored with an explanation from ZESA officials. Residents need to understand where they need to report their faults and contact the service provider in times of trouble.

Grass cutting

The area around Mount Pleasant Hall and the Council area are overgrown with grass and council only started cutting grass last week. The area along Lytham, Glen Hellen Road has overgrown grass. Grass cutting needs to start in earnest. Unfortunately, the council has not recruited casual labourers for this task. But the HRT expects the council to be making plans to utilise the available manpower through careful planning and phased grass cutting, involving the communities affected to build collective responsibility towards their environment.

Visit the Harare Residents' Trust fact sheet

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