Online Reporter
Thupeyo Muleya
Beitbridge Bureau
BEITBRIDGE Municipality is appealing to the Government for support to procure two additional fire tenders to enhance its firefighting capabilities and to build its capacity to respond to disasters.
These include road accidents along major highways leading from the Beitbridge Border Post to Harare and Bulawayo.
Currently, the local authority is relying on two fire tenders with a combined capacity of 6000 litres of water at any given time.
Beitbridge town clerk Mr Loud Ramakgapola told the parliamentary portfolio committee on Transport and Infrastructure Development during a field visit to the town on Sunday that the council was having challenges in effectively responding to emergencies across the district.
He said the situation was worsened by the withdrawal of two fire tenders belonging to Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) and the National Oil Company from Beitbridge town.
The parliamentarians were familiarising with in port and out of port infrastructure projects that came with the US$300 million Beitbridge border modernisation.
Government and its partner, the Zimborders Consortium has built a new fire station, 220 houses for border agencies, a 11,4 mega litres water reservoir, a new sewer oxidation town, upgraded roads and water facilities and an animal plant and quarantine centre within the town.
The border modernisation project falls under the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure development.
“We are grateful for the support we have received so far from the Government in improving service delivery,” he said.
“So far we have benefitted this fire station and we received a new fire tender with a carrying capacity of 5000 litres adding to the one we had that can carry 1000 litres.
“However, due to our unique location in the African union North to South Corridor and proximity to South Africa, we handle a lot of traffic and emergencies.
“We are doing our best but we feel we need to be assisted to boost our capacity to disaster responsiveness and we are appealing to the Government to assist us in procuring two more fire tenders to enable us to provide efficient and effective firefighting services to our residents and transit population.”
He said the municipality’s fire department plays a critical role in responding to fires, accidents, and other emergencies within the town and major highways.
Mr Ramakgapola said with limited resources and equipment, the department was facing significant challenges in providing timely and effective services especially during the fire season (July and October) and major public holidays.
He said the acquisition of at least two additional fire tenders with a combined carrying capacity of 10 000 litres would enable the municipality to respond more effectively to emergencies, reducing the risk of damage to property and loss of life.
“The border post is a huge investment that needs protection and we also need to enhance the overall safety and security of the community,” said Mr Ramakgapola.
“Although we plan to have such equipment, our resources are limited and hence we need national Government intervention.”
