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Munyaradzi Doma in Zvishavane
Zvishavane Town Council’s plans to boost its refuse collection fleet and procure enough water treatment chemicals have come unstuck due to the biting foreign currency shortages. Council has of late been coming under fire from residents for failing to collect refuse in some parts of the mining town, including failure to consistently supply potable water.
The local authority’s secretary, Mr Tinoda Mukutu, last week said forex challenges were hampering council’s plans to improve service delivery. He appealed to Government to prioritise allocating foreign currency to local authorities to facilitate critical imports.
“Council operations are being hampered by shortage of foreign currency. Our efforts to improve service delivery have been severely affected by shortage of foreign currency,” said Mr Mukutu.
“We need hard currency for importation of water treatment chemicals, pump repairs and maintenance equipment and other materials. Right now, council has imported a fire tender to boost its fleet, but we are yet to take delivery of it because we do not have the required foreign currency to bring it in.’’
Foreign currency shortages, he said, have affected council’s plans to upgrade its water pumping and conveyancing infrastructure in order to meet rising demand from the town’s growing population.
Zvishavane is currently scouting for lines of credit to help it finance outstanding capital projects in the town. During a recent tour of the town, the Minister of State for Midlands Provincial Affairs, Owen Ncube, said Government was working on modalities for local authorities to be prioritised in the allocation of foreign currency.
Online Reporter