“Our mission in the next five years is for the council to have its own water treatment plant through private partnerships,” she told The Zimbabwean. “We will also rehabilitate the sewer system, clear our housing backlog, improve road networks and deal with other problems that might rise during consultative meetings with residents and other stakeholders.”
Norton currently depends on water from Harare, a city which is struggling to meet demand for its own citizens. The result is that supplies to the small farming town are erratic and insufficient.
“Norton has a total population of 58,421 and requires 20 mega-litres of water every day. We are only getting 5ML a day from Harare,” said Mufahore.
Mufahore, returning to the council for a second term on an MDC-T ticket, said she plans to pursue the projects of the previous council, which saw Norton sink 17 boreholes as alternatives to Harare’s water.
“Unfortunately, ZINWA has stopped us from drilling more boreholes to safeguard the underground water, hence the need to have our own water treatment plant from Lake Chivero,” she said.
Mufahore said she was also worried by the town’s high rate of unemployment.
“The situation in Norton is dire. Out of 192 heavy industries, only eight are operational. We are going to tackle this problem through creating more industrial stands, aggressive promotion of the town through business exhibitions and expos, social networks, websites, investor friendly packages and by-laws, town twinning, registering and funding community self-help organisations and individuals,” she added.
Mufahore said her council would engage government to make more land available for residential stands.
Post published in: News