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Mr Mutiwi

Obert Chifamba Manicaland Bureau
MUTARE City is reviewing its by-laws and realigning them with contemporary urban developmental trends, council public relations officer Mr Spren Mutiwi has said.

In an interview, Mr Mutiwi told The Herald that some of the city’s by-laws were outdated and had been overtaken by developments in the modes of doing business, which was creating serious loopholes in both revenue generation and collection.

“Council will be reviewing all major by-laws, for instance, those for fire, water, shop licensing, traffic and vending,” he said.

“Reviewing of fire by-laws has already started, the draft has been done and we expect the process to be completed in the second quarter of the year. We are also pushing for the adoption of some new by-laws, especially for elements such as push carts, which are a challenge confronting council and need a comprehensive legal framework to have them incorporated and regulated.”

Mr Mutiwi said there was need for separate by-laws on places of worship so that people would not just use every space, but the designated ones.

“Places of worship have to be regularised and have to be within the confines of the city’s by-laws,” he said.

“The most worrying element, however, is that of tampering with council infrastructure, where people vandalise property such water hydrants and meters before extracting water freely for use in illegal car washes that have sprouted around the Central Business District and suburbs.”

Mr Mutiwi said illegal car washes were tapping into treated water and using it without paying, which was compromising the drive to bag all potential revenue while paying residents were also being prejudiced of adequate safe water. He warned residents in the habit of connecting themselves illegally or by-passing of meters that they would be prosecuted once the by-laws were passed.

“We are also pushing to have by-laws for pre-paid water meters that will obviously be supported by a comprehensive legal framework,” said Mr Mutiwi.

“Our legal team is currently busy reviewing all the by-laws as we speak. The process should be done by July and residents should respect the framework governing business operations.” Mr Mutiwi challenged residents to respect the new dispensation, which he said was in line with Government’s 100-day work plan.

“Embrace the new dispensation or sink. Don’t fight change, if you fight change, then change will fight you. It is definitely coming and will transform the way we have been doing business,” he said.