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Midlands Bureau
Kwekwe City Council, which has been struggling to attend to fire outbreaks with its single and unreliable fire tender, yesterday took delivery of a new fire tender plus an ambulance and service vehicles as part of the national effort to equip emergency services.
The Government, using devolution funds, facilitated the purchase of 133 fire tenders for all 92 local authorities to enable them to attend to fire outbreaks.
The city, an industry hub, has been failing to attend to fires as it depended on an unreliable fire tender acquired several years ago.
Fires at a house in Msasa, a shop in Amaveni and a doctor’s residence at Kwekwe General Hospital, were some of the known fires that the city council failed to attend to due to incapacitation.
Last week, a cross-border bus was burnt to a shell at Kwekwe City rank and the fire department was in no show. On Monday, Midlands Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Owen Ncube commissioned the fire tender together with other equipment which included a truck, two service vehicles, a skip bin, a tractor, a bowser and an ambulance bought using the local authority’s devolution funds.
Minister Ncube said the development was consistent with the Second Republic’s transformative and inclusive developmental agenda.
“Early this year, the Central Government under the guidance of President Mnangagwa acquired 133 fire tenders from Belarus as a direct mechanisation drive to strengthen civil protection by local authorities. It is my hope that this fire tender will facilitate quick response to fire and road traffic accidents in line with broader civil protection interventions,” he said.
Minister Ncube said his office would push for Kwekwe, which is a fire-prone area owing to sprouting fuel stations and industries, to get at least one more fire tender.
He said the Government supports revenue generation by local authorities as this enhances service delivery. Minister Ncube urged local authorities to be innovative and avoid overburdening ratepayers.
“Local authorities must desist from estimating bills and overcharging residents, but must be innovative in order to create other revenue streams,” he said. Minister Ncube said instead of councils being involved in running battles with vendors, they should provide vendors with operating spaces. “Let me warn municipal police and some land barons who fleece vendors by demanding bribes that they risk being arrested,” he said. Acting town clerk, Engineer John Mhike, praised the Second Republic for facilitating the purchase of the fire tenders, saying councils were now able to respond to fire outbreaks.
“We are an industrial hub as you might be aware and therefore we need to be well equipped for us to be able to protect industries from fire disaster losses,” he said.
Eng Mhike said the city was witnessing increased investments in gas and fuel stations, thereby increasing the risk of fires. He said the city needed at least three fire tenders to quickly respond to fire outbreaks.
Online Reporter