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Trust Freddy, Herald Correspondent
Out of the 92 local authorities in the country, 86 have submitted their draft masterplans which translates to a 93 percent compliance rate, Local Government and Public Works Minister Daniel Garwe has said.
The six which have missed the June deadline have been granted extensions.
The draft masterplans will now undergo a 60-day public exhibition period, during which stakeholders can review, comment and raise objections.
Addressing a press conference last week, Minister Garwe expressed satisfaction on the progress local authorities have made in implementing the blueprint meant to improve service delivery.
President Mnangagwa launched the roadmap last year.
“Out of the 92, Mutare and Bulawayo had already prepared their Master Plans before the directive that was given by the President and the masterplans were gazetted in 2022 and 2023 respectively,” he said.
“Out of the remaining 90, 84 have submitted their draft masterplans in terms of the June 30 deadline for review by the minister and have now requested to place them on display for the mandatory 60 days, during which period stakeholders make inputs, comments or raise objections.”
Local authorities that are yet to submit their masterplans are Beitbridge Municipality, Epworth Local Board, Ruwa Local Board, Mutare Rural District Council, Chitungwiza Municipality and Hwange Local Board. They all have been granted extensions to submit their drafts.
Beitbridge Municipality is expected to submit by July 8, 2024, Epworth Local Board, Ruwa Local Board and Mutare RDC by July 15, 2024, and Chitungwiza Municipality and Hwange Local Board by July 30, 2024, to ensure their inclusion in the urban development planning process.
Minister Garwe said his ministry was now interrogating matters concerning non-compliant local authorities, on a case by case basis.
Local authorities’ adoption of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system remains uneven, with 22 fully utilising the system, 65 partially using it, and three having recently installed new systems.
Harare’s ERP system is currently offline, while Mazowe’s is outdated and in need of an upgrade.
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