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Cde July Moyo

Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Correspondent
THE Bulawayo City Council (BCC) should work with Government departments to reclaim its former glory as the country’s industrial hub, a Cabinet Minister has said.

The Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, Cde July Moyo, said this yesterday while outlining his expectations for Bulawayo in the new dispensation. The Minister met Bulawayo city fathers and management last Friday.

In an interview, Cde Moyo said Bulawayo cannot develop in isolation, hence the need for the municipality to co-ordinate its operations with central Government.

“We talked about development of industries and commerce in Bulawayo and the Minister of State (for Provincial Affairs Bulawayo Cde Angeline Masuku) and City Council must take the lead. We also spoke of general administration. BCC must go back to its glorious years of cleanliness, a well-planned city, a city that can manage its accounts and deliver services to its people,” said Cde Moyo.

“I think the councillors who were all there and the senior officials appreciated and understood that you cannot develop Bulawayo in isolation without working together with central and local government.”

He said the development of the city can be achieved through strict adherence to the Urban Councils Act among other Acts of Parliament that govern local authorities and shun corruption.

The Minister said Bulawayo should also consider constructing flats to cater for its growing population.

“We also discussed the housing development programme that we have, we want them to start thinking about creating an atmosphere where we could have high rising buildings so that we can take care of a bigger population especially the young generation that is coming up. We want the city council to be heavily involved as well as other developers,” said the Minister.

Cde Moyo said the BCC should also consider providing accommodation for students in the city.

He said council must have National University of Science and Technology (Nust) and other tertiary institutions in mind.

“We urged them that since they are housing a university, they should also look at housing development for students who are at Nust. We think that there is lack of accommodation even for the general population of all shades, high income, low income, medium income, middle to high income so we want to create a city that can take care of its own people,” Cde Moyo said.

@nqotshili