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Service delivery update report in Hatfield suburb
Harare Residents' Trust (HRT)
June 17, 2013

The Harare Residents’ Trust (HRT) Cases Officer Ms Regina Bakuri and Northern Suburbs Community Coordinator Mrs Ronnia Gwaze attended a meeting in Hatfield organised by residents in the area. The meeting was attended by Mr Stonard Majogo, from the City of Harare, City Treasury department, who was available to respond to residents’ issues pertaining to the billing system of the City of Harare. This meeting was held in terms of the HRT’s objective number three to “facilitate engagement among council officials, service providers and the citizenry to improve living standards in Harare Metropolitan province."

Below is the service delivery issues raised at this focus group discussion:

Refuse: There is an improvement in refuse collection and residents appreciate that.

Property tax: The property tax constitutes the bigger proportion of the bill, which the majority of residents in Hatfield, who are pensioners, cannot afford to pay. The City of Harare was reluctant to inform residents about their debts until after three years when they informed them about their debts. Then it was too late for them as their amounts were too huge that the residents could not pay.

Water Supply: The original water sources were for both low and high-density areas, and were only meant to cater for less than 500 000 people. Residents in Hatfield do not have water and yet pay for water on their rates bills. The borehole drilled at Hatfield Hall services a lot of residents but most of them travel long distances to have access to clean water. Epworth and Harare Councils should make plans together so that they can utilise water in the quarry dam in Epworth. Residents also mentioned that the water reservoir along Chiremba Road always has water but residents are abusing it as they do their laundry at the tanks so this is not a case of poor pumping capacity.

Dogs and cycle licences: Besides raising revenue from rates, council can levy residents on dogs and bicycles. There are lots of dogs roaming the area and they carry pampers all over the area, contaminating the environment in the process.

Liquor licences: Bottle stores are all over the residential area and residents are appealing to the City of Harare to restrict offering these licences to residents as the area has become noisy, and heavily populated. They queried why they couldn’t set up their own beer halls as it was before.

Lodges: Lodges have mushroomed all over the residential area and residents are complaining of the rampant acts of prostitution, conflicts among patrons, drug abuse and other anti-social behaviours are being witnessed. The residents argued that this kind of business should be in the Avenues where it has always been like that. The HRT believes that the City should enforce its by-laws and regulate the sprouting of bottle stores and lodges in residential areas.

Hardware along Speke Avenues: Hardware shops along Speke Avenue offload cement in front of the shops disrupting the movement of pedestrians and also polluting the area around. Pharmacies are in some of these areas and the cement is hazardous to their health.

Building Inspectors-Mohammed Mussa: Residents raised concerns that building inspectors are no longer doing their work as they used to do. Residents want to know what caused the collapse of the building at Mohammed Mussa along Orr Street in the Central Business District.

Provision of Transport: Residents said the services of ZUPCO should be available to them because they felt they had been ill-treated by commuter omnibuses’ crew who are reportedly reckless, have caused numerous accidents and have caused untold confusion among the travelling public.

Street lighting: Hatfield residents require street lights as it is not safe to travel at night especially from bus terminuses.

Corrupt activities: Land reserved for recreational purposes was leased to someone who is going to build flats and residents claim that this was land reserved for playgrounds for their children for older people to relax in.

Visit the Harare Residents' Trust fact sheet

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