Residents' Voices - Issue 53

Disconnection of services worries residents

Disconnection of water and electricity by the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) and the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) respectively for residents with arrears has appalled residents, who feel that the institutions are being insensitive. Since the beginning of the year, ZESA and BCC personnel have been going around residential areas in Bulawayo disconnecting defaulting residents in a bid to recover debts. Bulawayo residents feel that the service providers are being insensitive as it is common knowledge that most Zimbabweans are either unemployed or earning salaries below the poverty datum line, hence most families are having problems meeting their obligations. BPRA has recommended that the two service providers meet with residents so that payment plans are made and disconnections avoided.

Residents call for improvement of city’s roads

Bulawayo residents have castigated the Zimbabwe National Road Authority (ZINARA) for its failure to maintain roads in the city despite the fact the body is getting funds from tollgates. ZINARA has also been accused of skewed allocation of funds for road maintenance. According to residents, the dilapidated state of the city’s roads could be a cause for accidents while motorists are negatively affected as the poor state of roads could damage their vehicles. Residents also expressed that they feel that the authorities have not done much in terms of patching up potholes this year, with major routes especially in the townships full of potholes. They said the situation would spiral out of control if the next rainy season begins and nothing has been done to deal with potholes. Bulawayo residents have previously argued that there is a need for a complete overhaul of roads in the city as they are in an advanced state of disrepair. As it stands, patching of potholes has become a repetitive seasonal exercise that has cost rate payers lots of money but failed to deal with the problem. The authorities thus need to come up with a viable plan to deal with the problem of Bulawayo’s poor roads once and for all.

Residents’ arguments on ZBC licences

Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) on Sunday 3 July 2011 held two public meetings in Cowdray Park and Emakhandeni. Among the issues for discussion was Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) television licences. This came at a time when ZBC personnel have been going around urban areas notifying residents that they should pay their television licences – which are pegged at $50 – and an additional $20 which is a fine for late payment, bringing the total to $70. At the meetings, residents described ZBC licences as tantamount to robbery, forwarding the following arguments:

• Residents said ZBC programming was of very poor quality, characterised by repetition of programmes and political propaganda hence it was unreasonable to charge Zimbabwean as much as $50 in licence fees.
• Most residents have resorted to satellite television due to poor programming by ZBC hence they cannot pay for a service they are not accessing.
• Residents also argued that the licence fees were steep in light of the fact that most Zimbabweans are unemployed while those who are employed earn salaries averaging $200, which is barely enough to meet necessities such as food, transport, electricity, water, school fees and emergencies such as medical costs.

Residents therefore argued that unless there is improvement in programming by ZBC, they will continue to resist paying licences.