Chronicle EditorRaymond Jaravaza, [email protected]
The Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ) has made a commitment to avail a US$30 million loan to the Bulawayo City Council (BCC), to fund infrastructure development in Cowdray Park suburb.
Some areas of Cowdray Park, the city’s most populated suburb, do not have roads, sewer reticulation and storm drainage systems hence these zones are prone to floodiong during the rainy season.
The IDBZ loan is meant to fund the servicing of these areas, particularly the Hlalani Kuhle/Garikai territory where residents are using Blair toilets. Some of the Blair toilets are filling up and there is an urgent need to put in the sewer reticulation system.
Roads in some sections of the suburb are in a deplorable state and the situation is worse during the rainy season.
Ward 15 councillor, Ashton Mhlanga, said putting in the required infrastructure will have a positive impact on the livelihoods of Cowdray residents, who for years have been using Blair toilets and were affected by flooding during the rainy season.
IDBZ is a Government-owned development bank tasked with funding long to medium-term infrastructure projects. It is also mandated to grow a robust pipeline of bankable, shovel-ready projects aimed at accelerating infrastructure investments, strengthening partnerships and increasing funding support to the private sector.
“We are happy that council has approved a loan deal with IDBZ that will see the bank availing a US$30 million to fund work on the roads, sewer reticulation system and storm drainage system in Cowdray Park,” said Clr Mhlanga.
He said residents will contribute monthly towards the repayment of the loan and once a homeowner pays the agreed amount, he or she is given title deeds to the property.
Clr Mhlanga, whose ward covers Phases One and Two as well as parts of Phase Three of Cowdray Park, said residents should strive to pay the agreed money so that they get title deeds to their homes.
“A homeowner with title deeds has the advantage of being able to apply for loans at banks and start income-generating projects. The title deeds therefore unlock a lot of investment opportunities for both residents and business owners in Cowdray Park, and this is a positive step for the city’s development,” he said.
Mrs Millian Nyoni, a resident of Cowdray Park’s Hlalani Kuhle/Garikai area, whose home is flooded during the rainy season, welcomed the proposed IDBZ-BCC loan facility. She said that whenever it rains, she faces sleepless nights because of flooding.
For Mrs Nyoni and many others in this flood-prone neighbourhood, rain has become a source of dread rather than a blessing.
“The rainy season is a curse for some of us, as it signals the start of our problems with drainage issues. I pray that the city council will accept the loan facility so that our drainage problems are addressed once and for all,” said Mrs Nyoni.
Last year, BCC resolved to demolish 17 houses in the area, to make way for a long-overdue drainage system. However, the project has been hampered by a lack of funding.
The flooding problem in Hlalani Kuhle/Garikai is not new. The housing project, handed over to the council in 2012, was supposed to be serviced before people moved in.
Residents were asked to contribute US$50 monthly to fund servicing of the area, but many of them could not afford.
BCC later reduced the contribution to US$15 per month, but this led to a significant drop in revenue.
Only 25 percent of beneficiaries consistently paid their dues and as such, not enough money was raised for servicing the area. In some areas, houses were built on wetlands, thereby worsening the flooding problem.
Online Reporter