News / National
Deputy mayor admits roads maintenance failure
07 Jan 2021 at 08:05hrs | Views
BULAWAYO Deputy Mayor Councillor Mlandu Ncube has admitted that the local authority has failed to attend to its dilapidated roads and sewer infrastructure.
The city's roads are an eyesore and rains have compounded the situation.
The punitive six-day water shedding program has also resulted in sewage flowing all over the city. The deputy mayor was speaking during the first full council meeting of the new year which lasted 22 minutes.
Bulawayo Mayor Councilor Solomon Mguni had told councillors at the start of the meeting that it should not last more than 30 minutes because of the Covid-19.
Contributing on a report by the Councillor Siboniso Khumalo-chaired Environmental Management and Engineering Services Committee, the deputy mayor admitted that the city has failed to attend to the dilapidated roads and sewer infrastructure in the city.
"He (Cllr Khumalo) should approach this august house and tell the truth that he has lost two battles. He has lost the battle to attend to roads in the whole city. The second issue is that of sewage he should declare that he has failed because he has dismally failed. The city is smelling all over and sewage is not being attended to, people report every day. We are now having Ncemas and Mzingwanes in the CBD," he said.
Even though another member of the committee Cllr Rodney Jele tried to evade the deputy mayor`s comment on the failure to attend to the problems, Cllr Mguni cemented his deputy`s view that indeed there was a problem in the city.
Cllr Khumalo said the engineering department was overwhelmed by work coupled with machinery breakdowns.
"We will discuss the issue as a committee with the director of engineering services and town clerk to attend to the queries raised by members," he said.
Other councillors also raised other service delivery issues which include dumping and poor health services. Cllr Silas Chigora said dumping was all over the city now because of failure by the city to collect garbage.
"A lot of dumping is happening everywhere. Every corner there are people who are dumping even in town. They are dumping because we are also not collecting refuse. Even in my ward garbage is too much. We are going for a month or two without collecting garbage siyabe sisithi abantu balahlela ngaphi izibi. Very soon we will be prone to diseases as a result of the uncollected garbage," he said.
Cllr Mzamo Dube said residents were spending hours waiting to be attended at council clinics.
"People stand outside the clinics till 9 am before being attended. Some of the patients will be in critical condition and they can't even sit down because of the flowing sewers and uncut grass. Our clinics must open on time to serve the people," he said.
Responding to the concerns, Cllr Ncube said councilors should consider getting partners to assist them in running the city.
The city's roads are an eyesore and rains have compounded the situation.
The punitive six-day water shedding program has also resulted in sewage flowing all over the city. The deputy mayor was speaking during the first full council meeting of the new year which lasted 22 minutes.
Bulawayo Mayor Councilor Solomon Mguni had told councillors at the start of the meeting that it should not last more than 30 minutes because of the Covid-19.
Contributing on a report by the Councillor Siboniso Khumalo-chaired Environmental Management and Engineering Services Committee, the deputy mayor admitted that the city has failed to attend to the dilapidated roads and sewer infrastructure in the city.
"He (Cllr Khumalo) should approach this august house and tell the truth that he has lost two battles. He has lost the battle to attend to roads in the whole city. The second issue is that of sewage he should declare that he has failed because he has dismally failed. The city is smelling all over and sewage is not being attended to, people report every day. We are now having Ncemas and Mzingwanes in the CBD," he said.
Even though another member of the committee Cllr Rodney Jele tried to evade the deputy mayor`s comment on the failure to attend to the problems, Cllr Mguni cemented his deputy`s view that indeed there was a problem in the city.
"We will discuss the issue as a committee with the director of engineering services and town clerk to attend to the queries raised by members," he said.
Other councillors also raised other service delivery issues which include dumping and poor health services. Cllr Silas Chigora said dumping was all over the city now because of failure by the city to collect garbage.
"A lot of dumping is happening everywhere. Every corner there are people who are dumping even in town. They are dumping because we are also not collecting refuse. Even in my ward garbage is too much. We are going for a month or two without collecting garbage siyabe sisithi abantu balahlela ngaphi izibi. Very soon we will be prone to diseases as a result of the uncollected garbage," he said.
Cllr Mzamo Dube said residents were spending hours waiting to be attended at council clinics.
"People stand outside the clinics till 9 am before being attended. Some of the patients will be in critical condition and they can't even sit down because of the flowing sewers and uncut grass. Our clinics must open on time to serve the people," he said.
Responding to the concerns, Cllr Ncube said councilors should consider getting partners to assist them in running the city.
Source - chroncile
