Alert – BPRA past weekend activities (24 and 25 March 2012)

THIS past weekend (24 and 25 March 2012), Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) held two constituency peace rallies and two consultative meetings. The peace rallies, which were held in Luveve and Pelandaba constituencies were aimed at inculcating a culture of peaceful co-existence among residents with different political and social beliefs in order to prevent violence in Bulawayo in the wake of possible elections this year or early next year. The two peace rallies brought together representatives from major political parties including ZAPU, MDC T and MDC to discuss peace building issues with residents. ZANU PF had also been invited to the meetings, but did not attend.

The two consultative meetings, which were held in Mpopoma and Nketa were meant to discuss service delivery issues at ward level and give residents a platform to discuss issues affecting them with their councillors. The councilors for the wards were present and gave residents feedback on service delivery issues such as refuse collection, road maintenance, availability of stands and water provision.

Attendance for the meetings was as follows:

Ward	Date	Activity	Venue	Attendance
Pelandaba (13)	24/ 03/ 12	Peace Rally	Iminyela Hall	68
Luveve (15)	25/ 03/ 12	Peace Rally	Beit Hall	171
Nketa (25)	25/ 03/ 12	Consultative Meeting	Mgiqika Pry School	122
Mpopoma (9)	25/ 03/ 12	Consultative Meeting	Mpopoma Hall	74

Regards

Information Department

Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association

Bus. Tel: +263 9 61196

Cell: +263 772 516 729

Website: www.bprazim.org

Alert - BPRA Weekend Activities (24 and 25 March 2012)

 

This weekend (24 and 25 March 2012), Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA)will be holding two constituency peace rallies and two consultative meetings. The peace rallies are aimed at inculcating a culture of peaceful co-existence among residents with different, political and social beliefs in order to prevent violence in Bulawayo in the wake of possible elections this year or early next year. The two peace rallies will bring together representatives from major political parties including ZAPU, ZANU PF, MDC T and MDC to discuss peace building issues with residents. The two consultative meetings to be held by the association are meant to discuss service delivery issues at ward level. The councillors for the wards are expected to be present at the meetings to give residents feedback on service delivery issues such as refuse collection, road maintenance, availability of stands and water provision.

The schedule for the activities is as follows:

Ward	Date	Activity	Venue	Time
Pelandaba (13)	24/ 03/ 12	Peace Rally	Iminyela Hall	1400hrs-1700hrs
Luveve (15)	25/ 03/ 12	Peace Rally	Beit Hall	1000hrs-1300hrs
Nketa (25)	25/ 03/ 12	Consultative Meeting	Mgiqika Pry School	1400hrs-1700hrs
Mpopoma (9)	25/ 03/ 12	Consultative Meeting	Mpopoma Hall	1000hrs-1300hrs

Regards

Information Department

Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association

Bus. Tel: +263 9 61196

Cell: +263 772 516 729

Website: www.bprazim.org

BPRA Statement on World Water Day

23 March 2012

More Should be Done to Solve Water Woes in Matabeleland

As the world commemorates World Water Day today, Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) would like to draw the attention of the people of Matabeleland and the country at large to the issue of the perennial water shortages in the Matabeleland region. BPRA believes that the water woes that the region faces are a threat to the very existence of the people that live in it and should be addressed as a matter of urgency. For instance, de-industrialization in Bulawayo is partly attributable to the shortage of water in the city, which causes potential investors to shy away from the city, not to mention the fact that shortage of water in the region is a threat to food security, especially in the semi-arid areas of Matabeleland South.

Admittedly, the Ministry of Water Resources Development and Management under the inclusive government has made commendable efforts towards easing the water woes in Matabeleland, especially in light of the inaction of previous governments. In the last year, progress has been made in the completion of the Mtshabezi to Umzingwane pipeline which is seen as a short term solution to the water problems in Bulawayo. Currently, all that remains of the project, which is expected to be completed this year, is the connection of electricity to the pump station as the pipe has already been laid. The ministry of water in 2010 also resuscitated 60 boreholes at the Nyamandlovu aquifer which are providing Bulawayo with 3500 cubic metres of water a day. In addition it has been providing grants to local authorities across Matabeleland in areas including Nkayi and Plumtree that are meant for water projects. The ministry is currently on the verge of obtaining a loan from the Chinese Exin Bank which is meant for the Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project (MZWP). Even the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has made efforts with a project being recently mooted to construct a parallel pipeline from the Insiza Dam in order to increase the availability of water to residents of the city. The local authority is reportedly in the process of lobbying for funds from the government and other institutions to raise US$ 21,2 million that is required for the project.

However, BPRA believes that more needs to be done and should have been done to deal with the water woes in Matabeleland and Bulawayo. For instance, it is disturbing to note that the MZWP remains a pipe-dream, one hundred years after the idea was first mooted. It is BPRA’s contention that the failure of the government to complete the project 32 years after independence has been due to marginalization of the Matabeleland region. Over the years, the government has failed to allocate adequate resources for the MZWP. Worse still, it is not clear what the little funds that have been released for the project over the years have been used for as the people of Matabeleland have never been informed of any progress in the project.

BPRA thus calls upon the government, in particular the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Water Resources Development and Management to ensure that enough funds are allocated towards ending Matabeleland’s water problems and projects such as the MZWP completed. The association also calls upon BCC to act to increase availability of water to the residents of Bulawayo. BPRA believes it is a tragedy and indication of poor management by the local authority and the government that Bulawayo residents will soon have to endure water rationing as two of the city’s dams are to be decommissioned. BPRA is convinced that more should have been done long ago by the current and previous authorities to avert such situations.

Regards

 

Mr Rodrick Fayayo

Coordinator

Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA)

Press Statement - Team to Investigate BCC on Fishing Mission

Prepared on 15 March 2012

  

Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) believes that the team appointed by the Ministry of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development to investigate the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) is inherently prejudiced and therefore incapable of coming up with an objective judgment. BPRA fears that the investigation may be a farce that is aimed at gaining political mileage as has been witnessed in the past where the Minister of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development, Dr Ignatius Chombo, has used the excessive powers conferred upon him by the Urban Council’s Act to dissolve opposition run local authorities that were elected by the public and replace them with his cronies. BPRA thus does not welcome the probing of the BCC by a team appointed by the ministry of local governance on grounds of impartiality.

While BPRA believes in transparency and accountability in the operations of local authorities, the association sees it as prudent for impartial and objective investigation teams to be appointed to carry out investigations where local authorities are accused of graft. BPRA proposes that the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Local Governance should be given the authority to appoint teams to probe the operations of local authorities. The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Local Governance is therefore in a better position to come up with a more objective team as it is composed of all the three major political parties in parliament.

Furthermore, BPRA sees any investigation instituted by the Ministry of Local Governance, Rural and Urban Development as the practice of double standards following the refusal by Minister Chombo to be investigated following revelations that he owns vast properties across the country in November 2010. Until Minister Chombo is investigated to ascertain how he acquired his vast wealth, BPRA believes that he does not have the moral standing to investigate local authorities or any other entities.

Signed

Mr Rodrick Fayayo

Coordinator

Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA)

Residents Voices – Issue 73

Pumula, Hyde Park Residents to Petition BCC

RESIDENTS of Pumula, Robert Sinyoka, St Peters and Methodist communities in Bulawayo have decided to petition the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) following the insistence by the local authority that it will resettle squatters from Killarney in their area. The residents are rejecting the resettlement on the grounds that they have been requesting to be allocated stands on the same piece of land since 1998. They are also concerned that the squatters to be resettled in their area could be social outcasts who will increase crime in their area. Already, the petitions have been drafted and are being circulated in Pumula, Robert Sinyoka, Methodist and St Peters communities where signatures are being appended. The project, which is meant to resettle 197 people is being implemented by BCC in conjunction with the International Organisation of Migration. Residents rejected the project when they were first informed about it in February this year. Despite the rejection, the local authority remains adamant that it will continue with the resettlement. It emerged at the meeting that the project was accepted at a full council meeting in 2011 without consultation of residents.

BCC Attaching Residents’ Properties

IT has emerged that the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) is seizing property from residents with outstanding bills despite assurances by the Mayor last year that this was not a council policy. A resident in Tshabalala Suburb in the city told Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) that the local authority had seized his Kelvinator four plate stove and his Defy deep freezer over a debt of US$371. While acknowledging that it is their duty to pay rates, residents see the seizing of property as uncalled for, and as a sign that BCC is detached from the environment that it is operating in. Residents said it was imperative for the city council to realise that most residents are either unemployed or earning salaries that are below the poverty datum line hence they are unable to pay rates. There are also concerns that the property that was seized was not equivalent to the amount that the resident owed.       

Town Dwellers Facing Billing Problems

RESIDENTS residing in town flats in Bulawayo have revealed that water bills at some town flats in the city were astronomical as the flats were classed as commercial properties when they are in fact residential properties. The residents also accused estate agents of not paying their water bills despite the fact that the tenants pay their rent every month, leading to some flats constantly having their water supplies disconnected. Residents from a certain flat which only has 24 units revealed that at one point they had a water bill amounting to $8 000 which did not make sense to them. They said due to the high bills, estate agents who manage the flats were reluctant to pay, leading to the local authority disconnecting residents. The residents called on the city council to classify all residential flats as residential properties and to install individual meters in all apartments in flats.

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Regards

Information Department

Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association

Bus. Tel: +263 9 61196

Cell: +263 772 516 729

Website: www.bprazim.org

Press Release

Matabeleland Education Departments Owe the Region an Apology and Explanation

Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) is disappointed by the performance of Matabeleland schools in last year’s Ordinary and Advanced level examinations and believes that the education departments in the region are answerable for the poor display. According to rankings by the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (ZIMSEC) for the November 2011 examinations, no school in Matabeleland made it into the top 10 in the Advanced level category while only five schools from the three regions made it into the top 50 in the Ordinary level category. Worse still, three schools from Matabeleland, namely Plumtree, Evelyn and Gifford were in the bottom 10 in the Advanced  level category.

BPRA believes that provincial education officers and headmasters in the region should apologise to parents for the poor performance and explain why Matabeleland is failing to match the performance of other regions in the country. The reasons for the poor performance should be given so that remedial action can be taken to address the problem. It is unacceptable for schools to be performing badly when parents are spending scarce resources on school fees and subsidizing teachers’ salaries through incentives.

While acknowledging that schools in the Matabeleland region are not as developed as other schools in the country especially in the areas of science and technology due to years of marginalization and under development, BPRA believes that performance can be enhanced if the regional office plays its part. In that vein, BPRA lays the blame for the poor performance by schools in the region squarely on the provincial education departments and calls upon them to make concerted efforts to improve education standards so that Matabeleland schools improve their rankings. The poor performance by Matabeleland schools means that children from the region cannot compete for places at University as their counterparts from other regions are better qualified than they are. This is a tragedy for the region as it is likely to continue lagging behind in terms of development as education is key to sustainable development.

           

Signed

Mr Rodrick Fayayo

Coordinator

Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA)

Press Release - Residents to Commemorate International Women's Day

Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA)

PRESS RELEASE

Date:               6 March 2012

Contact:         Rodrick Fayayo

                        Coordinator

                        Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA)

BPRA Commemorates International Women’s Day

-          Five service providers to be petitioned for gender insensitive service provision

-          Prayer meeting to be held at the Amphitheatre

Bulawayo residents will on Thursday 8 March 2012 petition the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA), the Bulawayo City Council (BCC), the Registrar’s Office, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) and the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP)  in protest against gender insensitive service provision as part of International Women’s Day commemorations. The petitions, containing hundreds of signatures from concerned residents from across Bulawayo have been prepared and are ready to be handed over to the service providers on the day.

Activities for the day, which are being organised by Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) in association with the National Youth Development Trust (NYDT), Musasa Project, Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association (ZWLA) and Christian Legal Society  will include handing over of the petitions to the service providers and a prayer meeting to be held at the Bulawayo Amphitheatre from 11am to 12pm.

More than 1000 women and men are expected to participate in the commemorations. Prayers will be held to pray  for peace, employment, a vibrant economy, good harvests and emancipation of women from discrimination. Also expected to be present at the commemorations are councillors, Members of Parliament, senators and church leaders.

The commemorations are aimed at bringing to the fore the fact that poor service delivery by BCC, ZRP, ZESA, the Registry’s Office and ZBC has a greater impact on women than their male counterparts. Women suffer more from power cuts and water cuts as they are responsible for fetching firewood and water, and are culturally responsible for cooking, cleaning and bathing children. They also bear the brunt of corruption by the police, as they are often the victims of rape and domestic violence, whose perpetrators use bribes to avoid prosecution. It is also women as the caretakers of children who experience most of the poor services at the Registrar’s office where obtaining birth certificates is a whole day’s ordeal and sometimes requires bribing of officials. In the same manner, ZBC continues to fail to address gender issues in its programming despite its insistence on exorbitant licence fees.

The handing over of the petitions will hence be part of advocacy to get service providers to improve provision of public services and to be gender sensitive in their operations, and to encourage women to get involved in governance issues and policy processes in the city in order for them to be able to take charge of their destinies. 

Signed

Mr Rodrick Fayayo

Coordinator

Press Statement - BPRA Commends BCC

PRESS STATEMENT

Date:               5 March 2012

Contact:         Rodrick Fayayo

                        Coordinator

                        Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA)

BPRA Commends Bulawayo City Council (BCC)

Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) would like to commend the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) for reverting to the previous system of collecting domestic refuse weekly. In recent years, the local authority has been collecting domestic refuse monthly leading to residents resorting to illegal dumping of refuse which has posed a health threat to Bulawayo. BPRA also applauds BCC for availing disposable plastic bags at the Revenue Hall and at housing offices across the city at a reasonable price.

BPRA believes actions such as the one that the local authority has taken are of paramount importance in order to avert diseases such as cholera and typhoid that have claimed numerous lives in other areas in the country. Such actions are also necessary for Bulawayo to revert to its previous position as not only the cleanest city in Zimbabwe, but one of the cleanest in the region.

BPRA would also like to assure the city council that it will continue with its efforts to encourage residents to abstain from illegal dumping of refuse, primarily through an Environmental Management Act training course that it is teaching in all of the city’s 29 wards as part of its Residents Leadership Development Programme. BPRA will also continue to advise residents against littering.