PROGRESSIVE Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) leader Takavafira Zhou says Mberengwa has been impoverished by years of unbridled plunder by the ruling elite. Zhou is contesting the Mberengwa Central constituency seat on a Citizens Coalition for Change ticket.
Mberengwa is endowed with minerals such as gold, iron ore, emeralds, lithium, tantalite, chromium, antimony, asbestos, corundum, lead, magnetite, talc, tantalum, tungsten, cordierite and beryl. The district, which is prone to drought, however remains one of the most underdeveloped in Zimbabwe.
Zhou said it was an affront that the area remained underdeveloped with poor infrastructure, poor health and education facilities and saddled by poverty.
“I empathise with the suffering populace of Mberengwa amid abundant resources accruing in the area,” Zhou said in a wide-ranging interview.
“There is need for legislation which ensures that natural resources accruing in an area are tapped and harnessed for the development of the host communities in particular and the country in general.
“Mberengwa has witnessed excessive plunder of its mineral wealth be it emeralds, copper, antimony, platinum, chrome, lime, tantalite, asbestos, iron ore, gold and now lithium.”
“Government has a tendency of taking over operations in the local authorities, but without the knowledge and expertise to manage.
“What is required to resolve the waste management issues is funding.
“We want the devolution funds to be disbursed and utilised for their intended purpose.
“We have 15 compactor trucks that are stuck in South Africa because of financial issues.”
Mnangagwa directed local authorities to reimburse Ema for its activities towards refuse collection and waste management. Mafume, however, said the SI was fishy and meant to steal from the councils.
“We now have the Pomoma project, where residents have to fork out US$1,4 million,” Mafume said.
“How can one declare a state of disaster and demand money from the same local authority that is a disaster?
“This is just a money-making scheme.
“The President was ill-advised. We do not understand what the SI says. Ema is a regulatory authority already, but then the SI says it is going to supervise us.
“Governance is not an essay-writing competition. We are going to continue working as we were doing.”
Ruwa Local Board chairperson Kizito Chivafa weighed in saying the SI was “weird”.
“We regard it as a general comment,” Chivafa said. We are still maintaining our weekly schedule of refuse collection, that is once every week.
“We regard ourselves as one of the smartest local authorities, so for us, the SI is just one of those statements. Even our residents can testify to that.”
The declaration was published under the Civil Protection Act as SI 140 of 2023 cited as the Civil Protection (Declaration of State of Disaster: Emergency Solid Waste Management Harare Metropolitan Province) Notice, 2023.
The SI partly says government “noted with great concern the deplorable state of cleanliness of the Harare Metropolitan province, characterised, among other things, by litter and waste dumps accumulating in business and residential areas of the province, open burning of garbage and indiscriminate illegal dumping of solid waste and littering”.
Source Southern eye
