Residents call for expansion of Social
Welfare Programme
RESIDENTS of Bulawayo have called on the government
through the Social Welfare Department to expand the reach of the Harmonised
Social Cash Transfer Programme (HSCTP) to other areas in the city and province
as many citizens are wallowing in poverty due to the country’s economic
situation. Residents were speaking at two separate community meetings held by Bulawayo
Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) in ward 29 (Magwegwe North and West) and
ward 19 (Old Pumula) to discuss the HSCTP and its administration. It also
emerged at the meeting that residents are generally unaware of the existence of the HSCTP, save
for those who are beneficiaries of the scheme. Residents thus called upon the
government to expand the reach of the project, and avail citizens with adequate
information on the scheme to ensure transparency and accountability in its
operations. Residents at the meetings attributed the problems that have dogged
the programme to a lack of proper information dissemination arguing that many
residents were ignorant of the existence of the programme and therefore had no
idea how it should be administered. They said this lack of information made
beneficiaries vulnerable to abuse by corrupt elements in their communities. The
HSCTP is a social welfare programme that aims at easing poverty in the country
through handouts to food poor and labour constrained families. The HSCTP is
still in its pilot phase and currently running in only 6 wards in Bulawayo,
namely Mzilikazi/Thorngrove (ward 8), Lobengula (ward 14), Old and New Magwegwe
(Ward 18), Old Pumula (ward 19), Pumula South (ward 27), and Magwegwe
North/West (ward 29). Already, residents of ward 18 have alleged corruption in
the distribution of the funds.
Residents in the Dark on Metering Exercise
Residents are up in arms over the move by the
Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) to install electricity pre-paid meters
in homes without widely publicising the move to home owners. Last week some
residents raised alarm that the parastatal was disconnecting residents with
arrears when installing pre-paid meters, now they are irked that ZESA employees
are descending on their properties out of the blue ostensibly to install
pre-paid meters. A tenant in Queenspark complained that ZESA personnel arrived
unannounced at his home and imposed the meter on his house-maid who could not
make head or tail of what was happening. He said it should be a ZESA policy to
widely inform residents of such exercises before they are implemented so that
proper measures are put in place by residents for security reasons. Residents
have called upon ZESA to inform residents that they will be installing meters in
their areas in advance of their arrivals. BPRA has in the past called upon
providers of public services and government departments to disseminate adequate
information to citizens in order to ensure transparency and accountability in
their operations.
Residents Meet Registry Official over Birth
Certificates
RESIDENTS of Pumula South under the auspices of the
ward’s Child Protection Committee (CPC) last Wednesday (25 July2012) held a
meeting with the Bulawayo Province Assistant Registrar in an effort to find
ways to ensure that all children have access to birth certificates. More than
200 residents who are struggling to obtain birth certificates attended the
meeting which was held at Pumula South Hall from 10am. It emerged at the
meeting that one of the reasons people are failing to obtain birth certificates
is lack of information on what is required for one to get the documents, while
residents also argued that personnel at the registry’s office are rude, and
often fail to communicate with residents in Ndebele, which is the local language
in the Matabeleland region. Residents also complained that requirements for
obtaining birth certificates were stringent and needed to be addressed to
ensure that all Zimbabweans can obtain birth certificates which are imperative
for one to access basic rights such as education and recognition as people.
Regards
Information
Department
Bulawayo
Progressive Residents Association
Bus. Tel: +263 9 61196
Cell: +263 773 788 183
