WATCH : Umguza hires expert to draft new master plan

UMGUZA Rural District Council has been operating using an outdated local master plan, which was last approved in 2001.

The shocking revelations were made by Urban Development Corporation (UDCORP) regional manager Mrs Petronella Nkomozana during the Umguza district’s master plan inception workshop in Bulawayo yesterday.

The meeting was aimed at coming up with concrete plans to operationalise a blueprint on service delivery that was launched by President Mnangagwa last November as part of their contributions towards the attainment of Vision 2030.

President Mnangagwa launched the “Call to Action -No Compromise to Service Delivery” blueprint which provides guidelines that local authorities must take to ensure they provide efficient services that are in line with the country’s quest to achieve a middle-income economy by 2030

Mrs Nkomazana said the failure to have a working master plan contributes to the haphazard development in the district.

“Umguza Rural District Council has an outdated master plan for its locality. The situation is not conducive to the sustainable growth of the district given that there have been fundamental and far-reaching developments that have been able to shape and dictate the development of the district,” she said.

UDCORP was primarily set up to encourage and assist local authorities to plan and coordinate urban growth and development, as well as to improve the standards of living of the general populace of Zimbabwe through the development of proper housing and related infrastructure.

It also offers audit services to the local authorities across the country. UDCORP has been contracted by Umguza Rural District Council to review its outdated master plan and come up with a new document

A master plan is a long-term planning document that provides and conceptualises a layout to guide future development.

“A master plan indicates an analysis for a certain population, economy, housing, and land use and is based on public input, surveys, planning, initiating existing development, physical characteristics, and social conditions. It is a campus to guide development,” said Mrs Nkomazana.

In an interview on the sidelines of the workshop, Mrs Nkomazana said they were working flat out to ensure gathering information to help in coming up with a master plan for Umguza district, which will be done ahead of the June 30 deadline given by President Mnangagwa.

President Mnangagwa said both the cost for the valuation exercise and drawing of the master plans by local authorities will be met through devolution funds after approval by the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works.

Among those who attended the workshop were Umguza Rural District Council staff, councillors, Chief Deli, and Chief Ndondo, and heads of various Government departments in the district among other stakeholders.