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Yeukai Karengezeka Municipal Correspondent
Harare City Council has missed its target to have completed a new master plan by the end of this month due to insufficient resources needed to complete the process.
The project was estimated to cost $3,5 million.
Previously, there has not been an independent master plan for Harare which is a planning framework that guides the city’s planning and development over a long period of 15 to 20 years.
A master plan is a city’s overall land use planning document. It constitutes policies and strategies regarding how all land should be used and how development occurs.
It has sections that consider future water supplies, road networks, housing provision, environmental management and transport for people and goods.
While lack of resources may be an issue, city fathers have been caught offside on numerous counts for failing to prioritise important things.
According to the recent environmental management committee minutes, acting finance director Mr Stanley Ndemera reported that a shortage of iPads to collect data required for the master plan had stalled progress.
Council has since last year bought only 11 iPads out the required 150.
“The finance director reported that the project was part of the capital project and would be funded as soon as the budget is approved. Some of the ICT requirements had been procured however, iPads were still outstanding,” read the minutes. The committee expressed concern over the slow progress and said Harare will not become a world class city by 2025 without a master plan.
Councillors advised the team handling the project to treat it with urgency and tasked the supply chain manager and acting finance director to expedite the matter or face disciplinary action.
Renowned town planning expert Dr Percy Toriro told The Herald that it was crucial for the city to have its own new master plan that addresses today’s challenges.
He added that the project was supposed to be incorporated into the budget and be treated with equal relevance.
“For Harare a new master plan is extremely important because the current master plan was prepared during the late 1980s and was approved in 1993. Many of the assumptions that informed the master plan have changed.
“At the time the master plan was prepared Harare’s population was less than a million people, the economy was largely formal, there were no major issues with climate, and ICTs were only starting to influence the way we live. We need a new master plan that takes into account today’s challenges and reality,” he said.
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