Story by Tichaona Kurewa
THE Government is confident that most local authorities will meet the June 30 deadline to submit master plans, although there are concerns over Harare and Chitungwiza.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa launched the local authorities service delivery blueprint in November last year as part of efforts to improve service delivery and accountability.
Among other deliverables, local authorities were tasked to submit master plans to the government by the end of this month and to implement urban renewal programmes.
Speaking on the sidelines of a familiarisation tour of the Victoria Falls Urban Renewal Programme this Thursday, Local Government and Public Works Minister, Honourable Daniel Garwe said government is pleased with progress made so far.
“I am happy to report that the majority of our local authorities are meeting the deadline. We are here in Victoria Falls, they had a meeting yesterday to finalise on the master plan and the evaluation roles, which they have already finished.
“The majority of the local authorities are going to be meeting the June 30 deadline,” he said.
It has, however, emerged Harare and Chitungwiza are lagging behind.
“The only councils that seem to have serious challenges, challenges born out of delinquency, challenges born out of incompetence, and inefficiency, are Harare and Chitungwiza. We now have a different approach on how to deal with them,” said the Minister.
The City of Victoria Falls noted progress in drawing the tourism capital’s master plan.
“We are almost done with our master plan, we did our written statement yesterday, and our master plan was overwhelmingly adopted by the residents and stakeholders. What is left for now is that we have the master plan adopted by the council,” said City of Victoria Falls Town Clerk, Mr Ronnie Dube.
The blueprint is the initial step towards urban renewal and improved service delivery. Hence, compliance is non-negotiable.
