BCC frets over poor vehicle maintenance

BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) has expressed dismay over the quality of spare parts that are being used on council vehicles, which have grounded most of them.

According to latest council minutes, service delivery in the city has deteriorated as a result of constant breakdown of vehicles.

The minutes stated that council vehicles are not functioning well because of the poor quality of spares used to repair them.

"Councillor Donaldson Mabuto raised concerns over the type of spares that are causing vehicles to be grounded. The spares did not cost a lot of money and could easily be purchased using petty cash," the council minutes read.

Mabuto suggested that all procured spare parts must be serialised to avoid theft.

He said a detailed report must be compiled explaining the shortage of spares, and that a site visit to municipal workshops must be carried out.

Councillor Arnold Batirai highlighted that protection of council vehicles is of paramount importance to avoid theft of spare parts.

"It is not acceptable to have vehicles grounded because of small things like battery terminals, brake fluid, and so on. The grounding of vehicles has a huge adverse impact on service delivery," the minutes said.

Last year, BCC faced a lot of criticism due to poor service delivery in the city, which was characterised by water shortages, poor road infrastructure, and chaos at vending markets and poor waste and infrastructure management.