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Mrs Chiri

Abigail Mawonde Herald Correspondent
Harare City Council is failing to maintain its recreational and public facilities, the Auditor-General Mrs Mildred Chiri said in her latest audit report.

The situation has robbed Harare of its sunshine city status.

Mrs Chiri said swimming pools, parks, sporting centres and public toilets were in a sorry state.

Some churches have since occupied the parks.

Public toilets at Market Square and shopping centres like Tichagarika in Glen View are in a sorry state.

Sporting centres are also neglected, including City Sports Centre and the Mbare Netball Complex.

Mrs Chiri urged council to urgently attend to the facilities.

“Swimming pools should be repaired and water treated, she said. Recreational parks should be maintained, non-functional public toilets repaired and sporting facilities repaired.”

In its response, council said it was making efforts to address the anomalies.

“Eighty percent of the city’s toilets require major refurbishments and improvements in security of the sites, said Mrs Chiri. A project approval report will be tabled before council by the end of the month for outsourcing the works.

The public toilets are also facing rampant vandalism by the public. Council has engineered the safety of items.

Council said it was entering Public Private Partnerships and also intends to introduce pay toilets.

“Efforts are being made to use own resources to carry out the much needed repairs and sourcing of consumables,” it said.

On swimming pools, council said it was engaging main users to provide funds and consumables on PPP arrangement.

Council said it was also considering tightening security at its facilities.

“Across the city, boundary walls at markets and institutions have been vandalised, said Mrs Chiri. Repairs are done, but repeatedly they are vandalised. Security has been increased to avert further damages. Also use of brick walls is going to be implemented.”