VICE-PRESIDENT Constantino Chiwenga yesterday castigated Bulawayo City Council (BCC) for awarding a tender for its new parking system to a foreign-owned company, Tendy Three International (TTI), instead of contracting a local company.
The new parking system, which has made the cost of parking
in Bulawayo expensive, has forced motorists to abandon parking bays in the city
centre’s new parking zone where drivers must pay US$1 to park for 30 minutes.
Parking in Zone One, a prime parking area covering Leopold
Takawira Avenue to 11th Avenue and Fife Street to Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Street
came into force yesterday with motorists avoiding parking there due to the US$1
per 30 minutes parking fee.
According to the local authority, Zone Two where motorists
will be parting with US$1 to park for an hour is yet to be operationalised.
The parking fees are paid in local currency at the
prevailing official exchange rate which currently stands at US$1:ZW$127.
The new system is implemented by BCC in partnership with a
South African company, Tendy Three International (TTI), under a six-year build,
operate and transfer framework.
The local authority will receive 30 percent of revenue,
while TTI will take 70 percent.
Addressing thousands of Zanu-PF supporters during a rally
at Isilwane Youth Centre in Old Pumula suburb to drum up support for the ruling
party candidates ahead of the March 26 by-elections, VP Chiwenga, who is also
the Second Secretary of the ruling party, blasted BCC for shunning local companies.
He said it did not make sense for council to entrust the
collection of revenue from parking bays to a foreign-owned firm, which would in
turn not plough back to the local community.
“Our good people always pay to secure parking bays for
their vehicles in the city centre. The irony here is that a foreign-owned
company has been entrusted to collect the revenue from parking bays,” said the
Vice-President, amid thunderous cheers from jubilant Zanu-PF party faithful.
VP Chiwenga said there is a need to empower citizens and
entrust them with such ventures for the common good.
“Clearly there is no guarantee that the revenue collected
is ploughed back to improve the lives of our people. Our position is that such
tenders should be awarded to local people in order to empower them and develop
a collective sense of ownership and responsibility to run such businesses,” he
said.
“At least these poor developments only go to show the
extent to which this council (BCC) is not people-centric. It is high time that
we said enough is enough through the thundering voice of the ballot.”
VP Chiwenga urged Bulawayo residents to vote the opposition
out of council in the coming by-elections.
He said BCC including other urban councils run by the
opposition have dismally failed the electorate.
“We are saddened by the manner in which our cities and
towns have been run down by opposition-led councils. These councils have
betrayed the trust bestowed upon them by the people, ostensibly by both
deliberate commission and omission,” said the VP.
“Just like all externally-handled outfits would do, the
opposition political parties were made to believe the fallacy that poor service
delivery can be a lethal weapon to agitate the people against their Government
and ultimately effect regime change. What nonsense!”
The Vice-President said through its ineptitude, BCC has
contributed to the economic collapse of the city, which was once the country’s
major industrial hub.
“Here in Bulawayo, for instance, the city council used to
own and run numerous strategic business units as part of diversification, so
that they do not solely depend on rates for revenue generation to spur economic
growth and development in the city,” he said.
VP Chiwenga noted that some suburbs such as Emakhandeni,
Entumbane, Magwegwe, Nkulumane and Pumula were built from resources mobilised
through business ventures run by BCC such as the once thriving beer halls.
“Such strategic economic interventions were crucial social
safety nets for the people. The businesses created both employment and
recreation for the people,” he said.
“Is it not a shame that the current opposition-led councils
have selfishly decided to rent out the revenue streams to themselves and
changed their use? Where is their conscience?”
VP Chiwenga said due to their failure to run local
authorities, opposition parties should not be entrusted with national
governance.
He said roads under council jurisdiction were no longer
safe for both human and vehicular traffic.
“This is why the central Government has decided to repair and
reconstruct roads through devolution funds and other resources such as the
Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme. Here in Bulawayo, we have already
started with Siyepambili Drive and we are also seized with upgrading our trunk
roads, including the Bulawayo-Harare highway,” said VP Chiwenga.
“We will soon work on the Beitbridge-Bulawayo-Victoria
Falls highway.”
Government has just allocated BCC nearly $800 million
towards road maintenance. The Second Republic is funding most of the major
rehabilitation projects through the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme
(ERRP) 2 which President Mnangagwa launched last year.
About 75 percent of the city’s roads have outlived their
lifespan and need to be rehabilitated and the local authority requires about US$700
million to fix the 2 400km road network.
It has become a nightmare driving on most of the city’s
roads due to the poor road network.
The Zanu-PF Second Secretary said they were also aware that
BCC has farms in the peri-urban environs of the city, which used to be massive
sources of employment for locals.
“The sad story is that the farms have been parcelled and
rented out to council employees. We need to restore sanity and we are saying
Bulawayo should return to its past glory as the City of Kings and Queens, and
the time is now,” said VP Chiwenga.
He also queried the rationale behind BCC’s decision to
allow a private company to do quarry mining at the doorsteps of residents in
Pumula North,
“Is this just a case of sheer malice, poor management
practices or being unethical? One wonders why the council is not sensitive to
the plight of the people to stop this dangerous project, which is destroying
people’s houses each time there is a blast. This kind of madness must stop
forthwith.” Chronicle
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