adminThe team, which was led by the Redcliff Mayor, Councillor Joseph Matewa, visited different projects funded by the Beitbridge Town Council.
The projects visited included a truck port, vending marts, new parking area at Dulibadzimu Stadium, traffic lights sites and Dulibadzimu Bus Terminus which is under renovations.
Other areas visited were home industries and the area earmarked for residential development.
“We came here to learn about how Beitbridge Town Council manages its revenue generation projects.
The Beitbridge Town secretary, Dr Sipho Singo showed us around the council offices and we were also taken to various areas where a number of projects are under way.
“I am happy to say Beitbridge has good tarred roads and traffic lights at inter-sections to control traffic movement and ease congestion. The strategic location of the Beitbridge Town revenue generating projects such as the flea markets and the truck port reflects the unity of working together between the councillors and the local community,” said Clr Matewa.
He said Redcliff Municipality has largely been relying on Ziscosteel to generate revenue.
He, however, said due to the ongoing problems at the giant steel company, the local authority was now facing challenges in terms of revenue generation.
“We are also facing water challenges in Redcliff as Ziscosteel, which used to source water for us from the City of Kwekwe, has since stopped,” said Clr Matewa.
Redcliff Town Clerk Ms Elizabeth Gwatipedza, who was also part of the visiting team, also lamented inadequate resources to fund major projects.
“Our strategic plan in Redcliff is to augment water supplies through the rehabilitation of the Cactus Port Dam, but inadequate funds are hampering us from implementing the project,” she said.
Ms Gwatipedza also said the local authority had no money to service residential stands, most of which were acquired by residents before the introduction of the multi-currency system.
“The stands were sold at give away prices without benefiting the municipality which is what we want to avoid in future. We therefore want to engage the beneficiaries about servicing the stands. We want money to purchase equipment such as graders to service the stands as hiring them is expensive,” she said.
Ms Gwatipedza said the council also leased out five of its beer outlets.
“As municipality we collect revenue from the only remaining two outlets,” she said.
Ms Gwatipedza said their budget stood at $8 million of which the bulk amount went towards addressing water challenges.
Online Reporter