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Manicaland Correspondent
THE United Mutare Residents’ and Ratepayers’ Trust (UMRRT) has urged recently sworn-in councillors to serve residents and attend to their needs diligently.

Speaking at the councillors’ orientation session, UMRRT director Dr Sebastian Bakare said Mutare residents were confident the councillors would address the challenges they were facing.

He said some of the residents’ grievances included erratic refuse collection, poor road maintenance and inadequate facilities for housing, education and health.

“The residents do not expect a miracle for these things to be done overnight, but believe that during your term of office some changes have to be implemented and bring back our city’s glorious image of the past,” said Dr Bakare.

He urged councillors to acquire more qualifications so that they gain technical skills to steer the agenda of local authorities and improve service delivery.

“Councillors should be humble decision-makers and must be approachable to people in the community,” said Dr Bakare.

Mutare Mayor Mr Blessing Tandi said some of the residents’ grievances would be addressed through consultations with them and sharing ideas on how to transform the city.

“The city is losing treated water to leakages, which creates shortages in some suburbs,” said Mr Tandi.

He said council was working on upgrading old water infrastructure as well as repairing water valves to reduce incidences of pipe bursts.

“We want to introduce new projects in the communities that will uplift youths’ social and financial life as well as educate them,” said Mr Tandi.

Mr Tandi said they were targeting to improve refuse collection especially in the wake of reports on outbreaks of cholera in some areas in Manicaland.

He said they intended to improve the city’s health facilities and make sure cholera would not spread to unaffected areas.

“We are aware of outdated leaking sewage pipes that continue to discharge untreated effluent into the environment especially in Sakubva,” he said. “The situation has been raging for the past months.

“Burst sewer pipes, heaps of uncollected refuse and water scarcity have become synonymous with Sakubva and its surroundings raising fears of disease outbreaks and environmental degradation.”

Mr Tandi promised to improve waste management to protect the environment, adding that council would also rehabilitate old sewer pipes to minimise bursts as part of waste management mechanisms to reduce pollution.