MUTARE– Mutare City Council has indefinitely halted refuse collection citing shortage of fuel in a move that has irked residents who feel their municipality is failing to prioritize service delivery.
In a Public Notice the city council says it has halted refuse collections and attending to water and sewer bursts as it struggles to deal with fuel challenges.
“Notice is hereby given to all residents that the fuel challenges experienced in the country have affected service delivery.
“Residents and stakeholders are therefore advised that there will be interruption in numerous service delivery programmes such as attending to water bursts and refuse collection.
“The critical fuel shortages have affected the customer complaints reaction time.
“Residents and stakeholders are therefore encouraged to keep the City of Mutare clean and desist from dumping refuse in open spaces.
“Instead we request residents and stakeholders to keep their refuse within their residential properties and collection will resume once trucks are fueled,” read part of the notice.
Mutare Residents and Ratepayers Trust programs coordinator David Mutambirwa said this move exposes the city’s lack of concern for residents as they have failed to deliver essential services.
Mutambirwa said the city’s failure to provide refuse collection services was exposing its residents to diseases.
He said perennial water challenges in Dangamvura and other residential suburbs was also an indication that the municipality has renegaded from its primary duties of providing service delivery to ratepayers.
“If that is what the council has done then it is very unfortunate because refuse collection is part and parcel of service delivery and if they renegade on that then it means that they are renegading from their primary duty as a service provider.
“Refuse collection is part and parcel of people’s existence and if refuse is not collected people are susceptible to diseases.
“Service delivery continues to go down as evidenced by failure to repair potholes, failure to attend to sewer bursts in time, water availability is still a challenge in areas like Dangamvura and Gimboki.
He added, “Some people are coming up with coping mechanisms to come up with unprotected wells in order to get the precious liquid which is right according to the constitution, it does not have a substitute.”
