EDITORIAL COMMENT: Govt must help councils address infrastructural development gap Urban Councils’ Association of Zimbabwe president and Harare Mayor Clr Bernard Manyenyeni addresses delegates at the Zimbabwe Urban Infrastructure Investment Summit at the ZITF in Bulawayo. Listening from left are Bulawayo economic development officer Mr Kholisani Moyo and Mr Anthony Makwindi. —Picture by Eliah Saushoma
Urban Councils’ Association of Zimbabwe president and Harare Mayor Clr Bernard Manyenyeni addresses delegates at the Zimbabwe Urban Infrastructure Investment Summit at the ZITF in Bulawayo. Listening from left are Bulawayo economic development officer Mr Kholisani Moyo and Mr Anthony Makwindi. —Picture by Eliah Saushoma

Urban Councils’ Association of Zimbabwe president and Harare Mayor Clr Bernard Manyenyeni addresses delegates at the Zimbabwe Urban Infrastructure Investment Summit at the ZITF in Bulawayo. Listening from left are Bulawayo economic development officer Mr Kholisani Moyo and Mr Anthony Makwindi. —Picture by Eliah Saushoma

Local authorities, both urban and rural, have a mandate to provide an enabling environment for investment. It is councils that should provide the required infrastructure such as roads, bridges, water and sewer reticulation systems, serviced land and other such infrastructure required by companies. Central Government can only complement efforts by councils to make their respective cities and towns conducive for investment.

Councils are therefore expected to invest a lot of resources in infrastructure development in order to attract investors to their cities and towns. It is therefore disturbing to learn that local authorities have an infrastructure development gap of about 40 years which means the councils are lagging far behind as far as infrastructure development is concerned.

Addressing delegates to the Zimbabwe Urban Infrastructure Investment Summit in Bulawayo on Monday, the Urban Councils’ Association of Zimbabwe (UCAZ) president Clr Bernard Manyenyeni said councils require quick interventions to address the infrastructure development gap.

Clr Manyenyeni who is also the Mayor of Harare said most cities and towns have outlived their design capacities in every aspect of infrastructure. He said quantity surveyors, architects and engineers have for the past 30 or so years not undertaken big infrastructure development projects in the country’s cities and towns hence the infrastructure development gap.

He said what was worrying was that councils have not been part of the mega deals that the country is talking about yet they are supposed to provide the required enabling environment for investors. What the councils are raising is a very worrying investment shortcoming that should be addressed urgently if the country is to meet the demands of the expected influx of investors that are already responding to the mantra “Zimbabwe is Open for Business”.

There is urgent need to expand the road network, sewer and water reticulation systems, build office and factory accommodation and other such infrastructure required by both new and expanding investors. The councils’ failure to cope with the investors’ demand for services will frustrate investors who might be forced to take their money elsewhere.

We want at this juncture to call on central Government to work closely with local authorities to address this infrastructure development gap so that our cities and towns meet investors’ demands for services.

There is a need to hit the ground running in expanding infrastructure, which according to city fathers has outlived its design capacity. In some cities and towns there might be a need to open new industrial areas and construct high-rise buildings for both office and residential accommodation as the councils brace for the expected industrial boom.

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