adminInnocent Ruwende Municipal Reporter
Harare City Council will soon unveil its five-year development plan designed to create employment, attract investment and improve service delivery. Town clerk Dr Tendai Mahachi disclosed yesterday that the programmes would be achieved through strategic partnerships, loan funding and focused attention to service delivery matters.
“We are making a five-year plan as a city focusing on key areas, the first one being service delivery where we will be looking at water and sanitation issues,” he said.
“We have targets for each year. We expect specific outcomes which we will review at the end of each year to see if we have achieved our objectives.”
Dr Mahachi said the city’s engineers have already left for China as part of a deal that would result in the city’s water department receiving assistance in addressing the perennial water shortages.
Dr Mahachi, who will meet up with the team in Beijing on Wednesday, said the visit was part of the process towards securing a U$144 million loan deal from the Export Import Bank of China.
He said Chinese engineers would come to Zimbabwe to improve on water and sanitation infrastructure. Dr Mahachi said council would also be looking at areas such as roads which encompass street lights.
“In line with the requirements of local government, we are also looking at ways of creating employment through public works programmes and partnerships,” he said.
“The city is going to aggressively look for partners to fund the programmes. To improve service delivery, we are also going to do away with bureaucracy in council so that our programmes move at speed.”
Dr Mahachi encouraged residents to pay up their bills so that the council would provide an effective service.
China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) will meet city officials and two engineers from the city’s water department to conclude the asset supply plan, loan disbursement and selection of suppliers for the water reticulation programme.
Online Reporter