News / National
Norton Mayor Thumbs-Up AusAid
25 Oct 2017 at 21:35hrs | Views
Norton Town Mayor HER Worship Clr Precious Mufahore sitting next to her Australian counterpart Christina Landsberg, recently
Norton Zimbabwe - Her Worship the sitting Mayor of Norton Town, Clr Precious Mufahore, has commended the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAid) for bringing to an end over two decades of the non-functionality of Norton's sewer plant and the continued pollution of Darwendale Dam, as effluent from the town's industries has kept on polluting the dam including the whole area of Manyame River, much to the disadvantage of the community members and the environment downstream.
The Mayor of Norton has been the major driver behind the success of this initiative. She managed to, through the SELF Project (Sustainable Services for Everyone beyond the Lifetime of the project at Fair price) , her Norton Town Council and Welthungerhilfe (WHH) funds to have Norton's sewer treatment plant rehabilitated, including the construction of several public toilets in Norton.
Mufahore managed to secure over US$350 000 from AUSAid. The commissioning and handing-over of the Self Project activities to Zimbabwe by the Australian Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Her Excellence, Suzzane Mc Court, was done on her behalf by Australia's Head of Development Cooperation, Christina Landsberg.
"Firstly, we would want to thank the Australian Government and WHH, our donor partners, and the fund managers, for continuously monitoring this Self Project for us to embark in this noble community initiative which will see a lot of dignity being restored to our women and children and secondly, we would want to thank our guiding partners, Environmental Management Agency (EMA), Captains of Industry, National Social Security Agency (NSSA), school health clubs, Pastors Fraternity and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) for working with my Council all the way from the start of this invaluable community initiative which has made my town Open Defecation Free (ODF)", said the Mayor of Norton, Her Worship, Councilor Precious Mufahore.
The Mayor was accompanied by the Town Secretary, Mr Kizito Muhomba, the Town Engineer, Bester Maramba, the Head of Engineering Department, Clr Yovani Tapera of Ward 10, the Australian delegation, representatives from the Provincial Administrtaor's office and other councillors.
The newly built public toilets are at Katanga, and Maridale. They are gender sensitive and inclusive of people living with disabilities and suitable for use by nursing mothers.
For the past three decades water in the industrial town has been supplied by Harare, a situation which makes the resource erratically supplied. In the recent past cases of typhoid and dysentery have been reported in the town.
Mufahore urged the residents of Maridale to be resilient and said that she was doing everything possible, as a city mother, to solicit funds so that the dire need for water and sewer facilities in this new high density settlement, which apparently has no sewer systems yet because of the current limitations in water supply and due to the non-functionality of the sewer reticulation system is immediately addressed.
The town's Secretary, Mr Kizito apparently urged residents to pay up their rates on a monthly basis and desist from vandalising Council facilities, a sad development in Norton which he said is sucking huge sums of money from the financially depressed local authority.
Meanwhile Mr Muhomba has said that Norton Town Council, is committed to collecting refuse weekly on all residential and commercial premises, and will also accept any amount of money for rates.
"We're prepared to negotiate with our valued clients' payment plans and we urge our residents to report all faults, leakages, burst pipes and blockages as soon as they spot them", implored the Town Secretary.
The Australian delegate Christina Landsberg had this to say, "We have been working with Zimbabwe since the cholera outbreak in 2008-2009 and we consider access to clean water, access to sanitation and hygiene will ultimately give dignity to people and will contribute immensely to the well being of women and children. And a lot of my emphasis goes to institutional strengthening and we should spread word about good governance and encourage Norton Town Council to manage with the scarce resources".
The Mayor of Norton has been the major driver behind the success of this initiative. She managed to, through the SELF Project (Sustainable Services for Everyone beyond the Lifetime of the project at Fair price) , her Norton Town Council and Welthungerhilfe (WHH) funds to have Norton's sewer treatment plant rehabilitated, including the construction of several public toilets in Norton.
Mufahore managed to secure over US$350 000 from AUSAid. The commissioning and handing-over of the Self Project activities to Zimbabwe by the Australian Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Her Excellence, Suzzane Mc Court, was done on her behalf by Australia's Head of Development Cooperation, Christina Landsberg.
"Firstly, we would want to thank the Australian Government and WHH, our donor partners, and the fund managers, for continuously monitoring this Self Project for us to embark in this noble community initiative which will see a lot of dignity being restored to our women and children and secondly, we would want to thank our guiding partners, Environmental Management Agency (EMA), Captains of Industry, National Social Security Agency (NSSA), school health clubs, Pastors Fraternity and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) for working with my Council all the way from the start of this invaluable community initiative which has made my town Open Defecation Free (ODF)", said the Mayor of Norton, Her Worship, Councilor Precious Mufahore.
The Mayor was accompanied by the Town Secretary, Mr Kizito Muhomba, the Town Engineer, Bester Maramba, the Head of Engineering Department, Clr Yovani Tapera of Ward 10, the Australian delegation, representatives from the Provincial Administrtaor's office and other councillors.
The newly built public toilets are at Katanga, and Maridale. They are gender sensitive and inclusive of people living with disabilities and suitable for use by nursing mothers.
For the past three decades water in the industrial town has been supplied by Harare, a situation which makes the resource erratically supplied. In the recent past cases of typhoid and dysentery have been reported in the town.
Mufahore urged the residents of Maridale to be resilient and said that she was doing everything possible, as a city mother, to solicit funds so that the dire need for water and sewer facilities in this new high density settlement, which apparently has no sewer systems yet because of the current limitations in water supply and due to the non-functionality of the sewer reticulation system is immediately addressed.
The town's Secretary, Mr Kizito apparently urged residents to pay up their rates on a monthly basis and desist from vandalising Council facilities, a sad development in Norton which he said is sucking huge sums of money from the financially depressed local authority.
Meanwhile Mr Muhomba has said that Norton Town Council, is committed to collecting refuse weekly on all residential and commercial premises, and will also accept any amount of money for rates.
"We're prepared to negotiate with our valued clients' payment plans and we urge our residents to report all faults, leakages, burst pipes and blockages as soon as they spot them", implored the Town Secretary.
The Australian delegate Christina Landsberg had this to say, "We have been working with Zimbabwe since the cholera outbreak in 2008-2009 and we consider access to clean water, access to sanitation and hygiene will ultimately give dignity to people and will contribute immensely to the well being of women and children. And a lot of my emphasis goes to institutional strengthening and we should spread word about good governance and encourage Norton Town Council to manage with the scarce resources".
Source - Byo24News
