Chronicle Editor
Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, [email protected]
GWANDA Municipality has given property owners an ultimatum of three months to renovate dilapidated buildings in the town centre, failure of which the buildings would be demolished.
The directive is in line with the Regional Tow Regional Town and Country Planning and Country Planning (RTCP) Act Section 34 (Enforcement Order and Demolition of Buildings).
The council is doing an inventory exercise, where officers are moving around assessing the state of houses and business premises.
According to the by-law, areas that require attention include peeling walls, dilapidated roofs, sagging ceilings, cracked walls, and exposed electrical cables.
The law also looks into the number of tenants occupying the building, water, sewer, and drainage system, among other anomalies.
Gwanda Mayor Clr, Thulani Moyo, said the move is part of efforts to develop the town into a smart city including protecting lives.
“Our target is to ensure that we develop this town into a smart city and one of the ways of doing this is to ensure that we have buildings that are in a good state. We have noted with concern that many buildings in Gwanda are dilapidated,” he said.
“Some of these structures have gone for years without being renovated.
“These buildings have become an eyesore and they also endanger the lives of people. Property owners are encouraged to maintain their structures in line with the building by-laws.”
Clr Moyo said they are conducting an assessment where the local authority wants to come up with an inventory of the state of buildings in Gwanda.
“We will then use this information to identify the buildings that need immediate attention and then we will follow up. Developing a smart town is important in attracting investors,” he said.
In a statement, Gwanda Municipality town clerk, Ms Priscillah Nkala, said property owners have three months to undertake rehabilitation works or face demolition.
“This exercise we are conducting is a follow-up to a notice we published on 12 December 2023 in our notice board and our social business groups.
As council, we need property owners to renovate their premises to meet standard requirements,” she said.
“Failure to abide by the recommendations listed below will be contravening the Building by-laws of the Regional Town and Country Planning (RTCP) Act.” —@DubeMatutu
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