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Locadia Mavhudzi, Midlands Correspondent
GWERU City Council is reviewing its by-laws to align them with contemporary urban developmental trends in a bid to curb serious loopholes in both revenue generation and collection, acting town clerk, Mr Sam Sekenhamo, has said.
Addressing a full council meeting, Mr Sekenhamo said some of the city’s by-laws were outdated and had been overtaken by business trends.
“Council is currently reviewing all major by-laws, for instance those for fire, water, shop licensing, traffic and vending. Our teams are currently busy reviewing all the by-laws as we speak. The process should be done in the next quarter,” said Mr Sekenhamo.
“Reviewing of fire by-laws has already started, the draft has been done and we expect the process to be completed in the second quarter of the year. We are also pushing for the adoption of some new by-laws, especially for elements such as push carts, which are a challenge confronting council, hence they need a comprehensive legal framework to have them incorporated and regulated.”
He said council is also seeking to strengthen anti-litter laws so as to promote hygiene.
“We are moving towards a smart city by 2030 hence we are strengthening by-laws that will punish residents who litter streets and the environment in an effort to complement Government’s national clean-up campaign programme,” Mr Sekenhamo said.
He warned residents against connecting themselves illegally or by-passing water meters, saying they would be prosecuted once the by-laws were passed.
“The most worrying element, however, is that of tampering with council infrastructure where people vandalise property such as water hydrants and meters before extracting water freely for use in illegal car washes that have sprouted around the Central Business District and suburbs,” said the acting town clerk.
“We are also drafting by-laws for pre-paid water meters that will obviously be supported by a comprehensive legal framework.”
Recently, the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, Cde July Moyo, told local authorities in the Midlands province to enact by-laws which are in sync with the national devolution agenda.
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