Farai Kuvirimirwa Herald Reporter
Harare City Council’s allocation of car sales premises is chaotic as there is no formal process being followed. This was revealed yesterday by the investigating committee appointed by Local Government, Rural and Urban Development Minister Ignatius Chombo. Chairman of the committee Mr Madzudzo Pawadyira said the allocation of the car sales sites should go through a thorough process of vetting and transparent approval.
He was speaking while presenting a report on the investigations to Minister Chombo.
“Site plan should be scrutinised by the town planning department which specifies zoning and location,” said Mr Pawadyira.
“Once satisfied, the town planning department approves the sites in consultation with other stakeholders like Zesa and TelOne and a lease agreement is signed subject to the concurrence of the Environment Committee. Interested parties can either submit application letters or respond to tenders in the newspapers. The process takes at least four months and is too bureaucratic.”
Mr Pawadyira said 50 car sale sites were approved while there were more than 150 of them in the database.
“The investigation committee interviewed officials from the finance and planning department and was availed with a copy of the approved car sites totalling 50,” he said.
“On request for unapproved sites, the respondents were unable to provide the information required.
Mr Pawadyira said the council should include the police when carrying out demolitions to avoid violence against its officials.
“An incident was cited where officials were manhandled by illegal operators which was reported in the media,” said Mr Pawadyira.
Minister Chombo commended the committee for the report and said that would allow for the council to review the system of certificate issuance.
“The thorough report will notify the council on how to manage issuance of certificates,” he said.