…Residents castigate government fire tender decision
Beatific Gumbwanda
CHIREDZI-Residents have castigated the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing for prioritizing a fire tender to Chiredzi Town Council, which has already made payments for its Fire truck using devolution funds instead of upgrading the town’s water reticulation system.
Acute water shortages continue to be a thorn in flesh for the small sugarcane town dwellers.
Chiredzi Residents and Rate Payers Association (CHIRRA) chairperson Jonathan Muusha said the idea was good but not for Chiredzi as residents face water challenges, which is a constitutional right.
“The purchase of fire tenders by government was good, but not in our situation. Chiredzi Town Council had already procured a fire tender and those funds were now supposed to be channelled towards construction of new water works system at Chiredzi River. The town is fast growing and the demand for water is increasing daily.
“I therefore pray that government hears our plea on water situation, especially in ward 5 which has gone for over 35 years with serious water problems. It pains that women and children are suffering, searching for water and they are sometimes raped, have their property stolen while out there looking for the precious liquid,” said Muusha.
Ward 5 is one of the oldest suburbs in Chiredzi and has gone for many years without water.
Chiredzi Low and Medium Residents Association (CLMRA) chairperson Denford Chikanyau also echoed the same sentiments that water is a constitutional right which should always be prioritized before anything else.
“The water issue should have been the first priority before anything else. Water is a right to the people, water is life. In Chiredzi, one fire tender is enough so prioritizing a fire tender is a disgrace to the residents who have never tasted showers in their houses. I think they should have done some consultations first with the residents on which projects to prioritize first.
“This is a very sad story to see residents lining up at a borehole during the middle of the night and women are at risk of being raped on their way to the borehole. If council still has the chance to reverse this, they must do so. Council should have argued their case before government go ahead and procure fire tenders. Our challenges differ by location, ours is of water,” said Chikanyau.
Chiredzi Town Council Acting chairperson Ropafadzo Makumire also highlighted that the decision by the government is like taking residents for granted as they are supposed to be consulted first on what needs to be done but when the money is availed, it is channelled towards what the minister deems necessary.
“Minister called us at his office where we highlighted what was in urgent need at our local authority to be covered by devolution funds which was mainly water and sanitation issues. After those consultations where residents also indicated that water sewer reticulation was an urgent need, which we also highlighted to be covered in our budget, the minister just points that we need fire engines. So we have taken residents for granted and end up being at war with residents. So this is a national crisis as almost every local authority is complaining about it,” said Makumire.
On June 14, 2022, The Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, July Moyo directed local government authorities to purchase fire trucks from Belarus on a government to government agreement, where each rural local authority will get one fire tender while urban local authorities and metropolitans will get two and three respectively at a cost of US$ 464 296 each.
Chiredzi Town Council is being served by Tongaat Hulett’s fire tender to deal with its fire problems and is currently anticipating for delivery of one of their own which they bought using devolution funds together with the recently delivered Refuse Truck, which will be sufficient to serve the small community of Chiredzi.
Residents, though they say the idea is okay, thought it was not a priority for government to force local authorities towards purchasing fire tender rather than upgrading the town’s water supply system.
