dyton mupawaenda
George Maponga in Masvingo
MASVINGO City is poised to have uninterrupted water supply for all residents over the next three years with the Government commending the city council for making progress in improving service delivery in sync with President Mnangagwa’s vision of transforming Zimbabwe into an upper middle income economy by 2030.
Local Government and Public Works Minister Winston Chitando said the country’s oldest town had made commendable strides in the sphere of service delivery.
Speaking after meeting senior officials and management from Masvingo City Council and Masvingo Rural District Council yesterday, the minister challenged the two local authorities to continue working hard to close gaps within their service delivery.
The minister was speaking during a meeting with the two local authorities to gauge progress in service delivery and implementation of a blueprint launched by President Mnangagwa late last year: “A call to action — No compromise to service delivery.’’
Both Masvingo City and Masvingo RDC had identified gaps in service delivery with Minister Chitando noting that it was encouraging that both local authorities were taking action “to make sure that those gaps are filled’’.
“There are issues of water supply in Masvingo City where current supplies stand at two thirds of what the city requires and also the issue of waste removal, but I am also happy that these issues are being attended to and there is ongoing work to make sure these gaps in service delivery are fixed.
“Masvingo City has boosted its refuse collection fleet and I would like to complement them for doing a good job. The same applies also to Masvingo RDC, there are gaps in service delivery but the local authority is working to close those gaps and I want to also compliment them for that.’’
Masvingo City residents, battling a severe water crisis due to limited pumping, purification, conveyancing and storage capacity, are on course to getting 100 percent running water supply on the back of inroads made towards that end by the city’s management.
“In three years’ time Masvingo residents will receive water 365 days, 24/7 and at the moment residents are getting 2/3 of their water requirements but I am happy that the city has a blueprint to solve that gap upon reaching financial closure in an agreement for investment in a water project,’’ said Minister Chitando.
He said the two local authorities have also shown commitment to transparency and accountability by having up-to-date audited accounts.
However, it was the news of Masvingo’s impending end to their recurrent water challenges that will excite residents amid revelations that the local authority was close to finalising a water augmentation project deal to ramp up output from the current estimated 30 megalitres daily to over 60 megalitres.
The investment, that is set to cost over US$70 million, entails duplicating the existing water infrastructure.
Town Clerk Engineer Edward Mukaratirwa paid tribute to Minister Chitando for making time to get an appraisal of challenges affecting service delivery projects in local authorities, saying it is a sign of Government’s commitment to take development to the next level in line with Vision 2030.
Online Reporter