Simbarashe Fenton
Under fire Redcliff town council has been ‘commended’ for its recent efforts in clearing multitudes of mushrooming dump sites with fears of communicable diseases outbreak imminent.
As a result of inconsistent refuse collection residents have resorted to dumping on undesignated areas, the practice has resulted in insolent littering and pollution.
“A good job has been done here by Ms Mugadza and her team. It is our duty now as residents in our respective areas to take heed and keep these areas clean but what I know is there are some who will take us aback by dumping again on these undesignated areas…”.Said one Mr IG while addressing residents on Redcliff Mayors’ Forum virtual platform
According to the council’s schedule, the initiative is running separately from the ‘usual’ daily refuse collection targeting areas such as Torwood, Redcliff, Rutendo and the most affected Simbi Park area where collection is infrequent regardless of bill payment by residents which denotes the former.
“All I can say is the council should do the usual refuse collection in the neighbourhood to avoid the very same issue we are battling right now. At least once or twice a week is enough because if people realise the inconsistencies in the service they will definitely dump where they see it fit.
However we thank them for the effort to clear out all the dump sites in the town but that should not be a once in a year thing.” Said Marc Murewa, a Redcliff resident
Speaking to this publication Redcliff Mayor Clayton Masiyatsva bemoaned lack of resources to fully collect refuse and render much needed services, nevertheless he believes the recent availability of equipment will go a long way to mitigate the crisis at hand.
“We now have equipment to do refuse collection everyday but due to insufficient financial resources at times we experience fuel shortages. So far we have done the whole of Torwood; we are currently in Rutendo then Redcliff. We are targeting all dumpsites and skip bins.” Assured Masiyatsva
However, Simbi Park resident,identity withheld on confidentiality grounds, highlighted that the problems facing the former iron mining town do not only hinge on the ailing management and the ever promising political solution but on the residents will to play the much needed participatory role in their own affairs.
“Refuse collection in Simbi Park is rare; this has caused all this carefree dumping.
Another thing is there is no tape water, this is a health crisis as the town again risks another outbreak of diseases such as cholera and typhoid. Chances are we already have those cases; the right question here is what the relevant department (health) is doing because without water we cannot talk of a safe healthy living environment.
Service delivery is generally poor as the management is lagging behind solution wise and councillors cease to be representational, it seems they have joined the management. In order to evade this crisis there is need to come up with vibrant resident associations who have the will to fight and proffer solutions to problems facing residents”.he Argued
Meanwhile, Redcliff council continues to struggle to render services citing residents’ failure to pay bills, lack of financial resources as Kwekwe City Council demand a hefty Rtgs$708 million debt to be cleared in order to render the much needed water supply.
