Mutare City Council has mechanized its grave digging department by introducing excavators and backhoe loaders to cope with a spike in daily burials caused by government regulations on COVID-19 burials.
Mayor Blessing Tandi said while his council was already in the process of mechanizing its operations, COVID-19 regulations on burials demanded that they shift gears to meet demand for burial space.
Government has introduced strict regulations on burials for people who succumb to the global pandemic.
According to the new regulations, corpses are not allowed to travel outside the city for burials.
“On average in 2020 we used to have 1-2 burials per day, this COVID-19 period, we are experiencing an average of four and at present we had at least 84 burials this month.
“So the introduction of the backhoe loader is to mechanize the department and make it easier for the machines to only remove the crust and the team of our grave diggers will the finish it up,” said Tandi.
He appealed to city fathers and management to push through all key developmental issues scheduled for the year.
“Council has no reason to fail to deliver. I implore the management and policy makers to have team work. In 2020 we achieved tremendous progress and our focus is to scale up the same in 2021.
“We need to tackle the legacy issues and to pursue aggressive investment drive to widen the revenue base. I would like us to say no to silo mentality and individualism. We need collaboration and unity for a purpose,” said Tandi.
