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Ruth Butaumocho African Agenda
Growing up in the 1980s in the ghetto, life was a mixture of adventure and learning experience for most young people.
During school days, kids of all ages would look forward to fun-filled holidays where they would engage in different pastime activities.
Come holidays and weekends, youths were often engrossed in recreational activities that included, but not limited to swimming, athletics, movies in community halls and partaking in various ball games.
Then, community halls were always a hive of activity and would host drama festivals and sewing and cooking clubs for women. Apart from being just mere buildings for social activities, the concept behind community halls also assisted in talent identification of several individuals who later went on to be big names in their respective areas.
Beerhalls were not only for imbibers, but for everyone, particularly men who would often throng these places to engage in traditional sports like draughts, tsoro and mini soccer table.
With no Internet then and other electronic gadgets to entertain people, there were never boring moments, as everyone was often preoccupied with various activities.
There are not many municipality community facilities to talk about anymore after councils, working in cahoots with land barons, invaded recreational facilities and converted them into commercial and housing stands.
The last 10 years have seen a dramatic shift in the usage of land and planning in cities, where councils appear to have completely turned their backs on allocating land for recreational facilities.
Even land once allocated for recreational facilities in major cities and towns has been turned into housing projects. In the last two years, several recreational parks, clubs and open spaces have been turned into buildings, leaving residents with no place to engage in community activities.
The new crop of councillors and officials running municipalities throughout Zimbabwe has been wantonly changing use of land without consultations.
In most urban areas, demand for residential and business stands has forced greedy council officials to bend the rules and convert and sale land reserved for parks and recreational gardens.
In some cases, this has been met with stiff resistance from residents, resulting in the issues spilling into courts.
Unfortunately, several attempts by the residents to resist such developments have not been successful.
Early this year, residents of Southerton were shocked to discover that the City of Harare had changed land usage of a recreational park along Baxley Circle in the suburb and pegged residential stands. Currently, residents in Mt Pleasant in Harare are up in arms with the city after it sold a wetland, which is part of the Mt Pleasant Sports Club, for $26 million to a private property developer.
It is sad that the change of land usage has been going on unabated, a development that shows that the MDC-led council has not been sincere in addressing the concerns of the residents aboard.
During a visit to Masvingo in July, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation expressed concern over the growing tendency by local authorities to prioritise housing and business over recreation facilities in urban areas.
The rate at which local authorities are wantonly disregarding the need to have recreational facilities in residential areas is not only worrying, but clearly shows the level of disdain officials have for the ratepayers.
What is equally worrying is that some of the councils are not publicising the notices on their action of intent to enable residents to lodge their complaints or express reservations, before the decisions are made. The dearth of recreational facilities is not only an albatross that stifles development, but also exposes municipalities’ failure to provide adequate social services to residents.
If anything, recreational facilities cannot be considered as a luxury, but are crucial for the well-being of communities, just like water, sewer and public safety are considered essential public services, which local authorities have largely ignored.
For instance, recreational parks are important in establishing and maintaining the quality of life in communities, ensuring the health of families and youth, and contributing to the economic and environmental well-being of a community and ultimately the country.
It would be folly to expect communities to perform well and be healthy if they do not have places where they can meet, unwind and engage in different social activities. Recreational facilities remain a crucial part in any community, and should not be relegated to the periphery during urban planning as has become the case.
Councils need to rehabilitate existing community halls and facilities which they can open to the members of the public for a nominal fee.
There is no reason why municipalities in Zimbabwe should not do the same for their residents.
Online Reporter