1. Water supplies: Water supply is erratic, affecting the livelihoods of residents especially Ward 27 of Glen Norah where Ruvheneko Primary School is located. Boreholes in the area are not meeting water demands of the whole suburb. There are seven boreholes in wards 27 and 29. The borehole at Mushayabhande area is not working. The borehole stationed at Ruvheneko Primary School is heavy and makes it difficult to use.
2. Refuse Collection: Refuse collection is inconsistent. The community was made aware that refuse is supposed to be collected on Mondays but at times that refuse truck does not come. Dumpsites have developed outside Ruvheneko Primary school. The refuse collection trucks also over speed along the bad road network in the community hence refuse collection is not thorough.
3. Health services: Patients wake up at around 5:30 am in the morning to go to the local clinic expecting a service. People are tested for HIV/Aids at Utsanana clinic but the nurses continue to run re-tests and at times they prescribe wrong medicines for patients. Women at the meeting raised concern with the treatment given to those who give birth at Utsanana clinic. Nurses do not take time to fully examine pregnant women giving rise to birth complications usually referred to Harare Hospital. Referred patients are required to pay additional fees for the ambulance upon admission at Harare hospital. Further maternity fees are charged at Harare hospital regardless of having paid at the local clinic. Women are also charged $50.00 fine for late delivery. Utsanana clinic also lacks adequate birth facilities. The HRT is alarmed at the failure of the Directors of City health Dr Stanley Mungofa and Dr Prosper Chonzi to deal decisively with the errant behaviour of health staff at Utsanana Clinic. The demands from the residents are that the nurse in charge there should be removed and bring in a more responsible professional nurse.
4. Sewerage Reticulation system: There is a sewer burst pipe along White Way Road which has gone unattended to for several months. Residents have also resorted to using Glen Norah Park as a place to relieve themselves despite raw sewerage frothing in the grass.
5. Police: Residents accuse the police of harassing youths for allegedly abusing drugs like marijuana (mbanje). Some youths at the meeting indicated that they were beaten up after they were accused of taking drugs. Married couples have also been arrested on several occasions by Glen Norah police after being accused of loitering at night. A couple testified to have been detained overnight on their way from a local funeral to their home.
For details and comments, please contact us on info@hrt.org.zw/ or visit our website www.hrt.org.zw or mobile 0772 869 294/ 0773 381 973/ 0772 771 860 or contact Mrs Juliet Masiyambiri the Chairperson of Glen Norah Residents’ Committee on 0773 013 584.
Post published in: News
I applaud the good work being done by Harare Residents Trusts (HRT) in its outreach programmes as it brings out shortfall service delivery to the residents by local council. I have noted that the problems outlined in Glen-Norah ‘A’ Residential Report are common in most urban areas in Zimbabwe. These include inadequate water supply, inconsistent refuse collections, erratic power supplies, poor drainage system, unsatisfactory health service, poor police performance and the list is endless. The poor state of service could be largely attributed to the political situation where in such areas elected councillors are non ZANU-PF as their efforts are being frustrated. I remember when I was chairman for Glen-Norah Residents Association where back in 2002 residents were discouraged to attend my meetings by Joseph Chinotimba and even the police were not permitting us to hold public meetings as it was thought that we were campaigning for MDC.This was after we had successfully launched a workshop for the residents at Mutomba Nite Club in Glen-Norah ‘B’ aimed at highlighting their rights as residents.I just wonder why residents are charged for the services they are not getting. Local authorities should be seen as development agencies and not as party political structures. On the other hand the local populace should be empowered through the use of competent, experienced executives who should encourage local views from the grassroots representation. I suggest that residents associations should not be seen as political parties. Their common purpose is to improve the lives of communities by facilitating the exchange of information on problems that are faced by residents in general and promote civic education among all residents. People should not be scared to echo their problems. Instead they should be allowed to take participatory democracy and have that sense of owning and belonging to their local authority and utilities that service them. Generally the quality of services on offer to the residents of the city has deteriorated since independence. I therefore urge the HRT to continue with this good work so that they can reach almost every city of Zimbabwe and ultimately achieve the main objectives that residents should get quality services for what they pay for.