Alert - BPRA Weekend Activities (2 & 3 February 2013)

Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) will be holding three consultative meetings this weekend (2 & 3 February 2013) in Magwegwe (ward 29), Nketa (ward 24) and Entumbane (ward 10). The meetings will provide platforms for dialogue between residents of the respective wards and representatives from Bulawayo City Council (BCC), the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) on pertinent issues of service delivery related to the operations of the institutions.

BCC is expected to give the feedback on the city’s water situation, disconnection of water for residents with arrears and other service delivery issues related to BCC’s operations, while ZRP is expected to address the residents  on crime rates and other issues related to their operations. Meanwhile ZESA is expected to explain its metering exercise to residents and respond to queries on a faulty billing system and load shedding. The association is holding these meetings as part of its mandate to ensure that residents have an influence in service delivery and that holders of public office and service providers are held accountable for their actions.

Meetings schedule

DATE	VENUE	TIME	WARD	AGENDA
02/02/2013	Church of Christ	2pm – 5pm	29	BCC, ZRP & ZESA operations
03/02/2013	Nketa Hall	10am – 1pm	24	BCC, ZRP & ZESA operations
03/02/2013	Entumbane Hall	2pm – 5pm	10	BCC, ZRP & ZESA operations

Regards

Information Department

Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association

Bus. Tel: +263 9 61196

Cell: +263 772 516 729

Website: www.bulawayoresidents.org

Past Weekend Activities Report (Date: 28/01/2013)

The councillor for ward 22, who is also the Mayor of Bulawayo,
Clr Thaba Moyo addresses residents at Nkulumane Hall on Saturday
26 January 2013

                                        

THIS past weekend (26 - 27 January 2013) Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) held four consultative meetings in Nkulumane, Pumula North, Old Pumula and Luveve. The meetings provided platforms for residents to engage with their respective councillors on pertinent issues of service delivery and local governance. Representatives from the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) and the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) had also been invited to the meetings, but they were not able to attend the meetings.

The major issues discussed at the meetings included:

         

      The water crisis in Bulawayo – Councillors told residents that the water committee would be meeting on Wednesday 30 January 2013 to discuss the water crisis where a decision would be made to either reduce water shedding days or leave them at the current four days a week.

-     Refuse collection – The councillors and the residents in attendance castigated residents for littering and illegal dumping of refuse. The issues of irregular collection of refuse by the local authority and the fact that residents have no bins were not raised. However councillors argued that BCC could only collect refuse twice every month due to unavailability of refuse compactors and shortage of funds.

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        Road Maintenance – Speaking at the meeting held in Nkulumane, Mayor Thaba Moyo hinted that there was a need for roads in the city to be overhauled and new ones built. He overtly stated that patching of potholes was not working as the patching was washed away whenever rains began.

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         Property Maintenance - Residents bemoaned the poor state of council property, including halls, arguing that BCC was neglecting its properties. Councillors responded by saying that there was a need for properties to be maintained, but the local authority was facing financial challenges because residents were unable to pay their bills due to the harsh economic climate prevailing in the country.

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A resident makes a contribution during the meeting held at
Nkulumane Hall

      By-laws on informal traders - Residents urged the local authority to relax some of its by-laws with regards to informal traders, arguing that high unemployment had left most residents reliant on vending and small scale trading. They said the country was in an abnormal situation, hence it was absurd to adhere to laws that were crafted for normal situations. They thus requested that municipal police be lenient on residents trading without licenses.

Regards

Information Department

Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association

Bus. Tel: +263 9 61196

Cell: +263 773 788 183

Website: www.bulawayoresidents.org

BPRA Weekend Activities Alert (26 & 27 January 2013)

                                         

This weekend (26-27 January 2013) Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) will be holding four consultative meetings in the wards. The meetings will provide platforms for residents to engage with representatives from the Bulawayo City Council (BCC)  and the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) on pertinent issues to do with the operations of the two institutions.

The consultative meetings are meant to discuss service delivery issues at ward level. ZRP is expected to address the residents on police operations and security while BCC is expected to give the residents feedback on the water crisis in Bulawayo, the local authority’s faulty billing system and other service delivery issues related to the work of BCC. The idea behind the holding of the meetings is to promote a culture of accountability in the operations of service providers so that the concerns of residents are addressed and service delivery improved.

Meetings schedule

DATE	WARD	VENUE	TIME	AGENDA
26/01/2013	22	Nkulumane Hall	10am – 1pm	BCC and ZRP Operations
26/01/2013	19	Pumula Old Hall	2pm – 5pm	BCC and ZRP operations
27/01/2013	15	Beit Hall	10am – 1pm	BCC and ZRP Operations
27/01/2013	17	Pumula North Hall	2pm – 5pm	BCC and ZRP Operations

Regards

Information Department

Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association

Bus. Tel: +263 9 61196

Cell: +263 773 788 183

Website: www.bulawayoresidents.org