Online Reporter
Tichavona Makonese
SOUTHVIEW Fidelity Park residents have rejected a proposed piped LPG project saying it should not proceed until key community concerns are addressed.
The project, being undertaken by Southview Energy, seeks to supply Liquefied Petroleum Gas to more than 4,000 homes through an underground piped network.
It is being described as Zimbabwe’s first large-scale residential piped LPG utility project, with Phase One targeting 1,770 homes.
Principal Consultant for Waterkings Environment Consultancy, Webster Muti, representing the company, acknowledged the residents’ concerns.
“The issues you raised are quite important and are consistent with the feedback that we got from our stakeholder consultation.
“The matter has been referred to Southview Energy for a joint response,” Muti said.
Southview Fidelity Residents Association chairperson, Muteuro Chimedu, said the majority of residents opposed the project because of unresolved service delivery issues, safety concerns and what they described as a lack of proper consultation.
“The majority of residents are against this project due to outstanding service delivery issues and safety concerns.
“This LPG project is a secondary issue,” he said.
Chimedu said residents raised questions about safety, billing and emergency response procedures, but felt they had not received satisfactory answers.
“When we submitted our concerns through the consulting firm and engaged one Tawanda, she referred virtually all technical questions to the gas company owner.
“She could not adequately respond to basic questions on safety, billing, emergency response procedures and other operational issues,” he said.
