‘Budget should address water woes’

This emerged yesterday during a public hearing conducted at the Bulawayo Small City Hall by the Parliamentary Committee on Budget, Finance and Investment Promotion in conjunction with the Southern Africa Parliamentary Support Trust.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti is expected to present the 2013 fiscal policy statement on 15 November.

Stakeholders in Bulawayo said the budget should prioritise establishing an independent trust to bail out distressed industries in Bulawayo, supporting projects such as the completion of the upgrading of the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport, rehabilitation of roads, and promoting livestock sector.

“While water is a national challenge, as the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) we strongly believe that Bulawayo has a unique water problem that Government has got to address. We believe Bulawayo should be declared a water disaster area so that particular attention can be done to address water woes,” said Mr Percy Mcijo, an official from the ZCTU.

Over the years, Bulawayo has experienced perennial water challenges resulting in some companies closing down operations or relocating to other parts of the country.

Mr Mcijo implored Minister Biti to set up a Bulawayo water trust fund to support projects aimed at improving water supply in the city.

He said Government in the forthcoming national budget needed to prioritise on establishing a fund to bail out distressed industries in the city.

Last year, Government launched a $40 million Distressed Industries and Marginalised Areas Fund (Dimaf).

Mr Mcijo said the fund has not benefitted companies in the city as only a few had managed to access resources from the facility.

“On the 10th of October last year, Dimaf was launched we hoped local firms benefit from the facility but the companies are still struggling to access the funds because of stringent conditions firms are required to fulfil before accessing the resources. Why can’t Government come up with a stand-alone trust fund which will be independent enough to address the challenges ailing industries are facing.”

Matabeleland Livestock Investment Initiative representative Mr Sifiso Sibanda said over the years resources allocated for the agriculture sector in previous budgets focused more on sustaining the crop sector.

“Can the allocation on agriculture sector be split into two — that is for the crop and livestock sectors. Previously little or no attention has been given on promoting livestock production mainly by small-scale farmers. And usually, when we talk of drought it is usually on crops,” he said.

Mr Sibanda said in the past Government focused on capacitating the Cold Storage Company (CSC) without paying attention to livestock production by farmers in the sector.

“We also hope that if Government is to consider allocating resources to the livestock sector, can there be a mechanism that sees small-scale farmers accessing the resources without stringent conditions attached?”

Due to successive droughts, Zimbabwe has experienced over the years, the national herd has drastically gone down to less than five million.

The Bulawayo City Council director for Engineering Services, Engineer Simela Dube, said the budget should focus on supporting capital budgets of local authorities.

“The only way to increase employment in the country is to increase resources on capital expenditure. If Government can move towards a three-year national budget that will go a long way in supporting projects in the engineering sector,” he said.

Eng Dube also slammed the late disbursement of resources to local authorities by Zimbabwe National Roads Administration.

“For example, as BCC our allocation for this year from ZINARA was $3 million and to date we have only received $1,2 million and it’s only two months before the end of the year,” he said.

Participants at the public hearing also expressed concern over the time it has taken Government to complete the upgrading of the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport.

The airport has on many occasions missed its upgrading deadline due to funding challenges.

The stakeholders also urged the Government to consider constructing another public hospital taking into cognisance that the Mpilo and United Bulawayo Hospital no longer cope with the growing population.

The team, which is conducting the public hearings on the national budget in Matabeleland region, proceeded to Gwanda where stakeholders added their input into the forthcoming fiscal statement.

“We need to see how the Minister of Finance intends to grow the economy. We are tired of his statement that Government has no money. We want the forthcoming budget to come up with mechanism that points out as to how we can grow the economy,” said an official during a public hearing in Gwanda.

The stakeholders also challenged Minister Biti to prioritise the livestock restocking programme highlighting that over the past three years, the minister had turned his back on projects that promote agriculture development.

“Matabeleland South is also faced with water challenges, and we also expect priority to be given to the drilling of boreholes to alleviate the crisis. Non -governmental organisations here are digging up wells but what we really need are boreholes that will supply water to save our animals from the effects of drought,” said another official.

The stakeholders also challenged the Government to prioritise allocating resources to set up industries in Gwanda.

Today, a hearing will be conducted at Lupane Community Hall while tomorrow the team will be at Chinotimba stadium in Victoria Falls.