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Oswell Moyo Chronicle Reporter
BULAWAYO Mayor Martin Moyo on Wednesday said residents need not worry about flooding as council has already deployed community groups to clear blocked drainages in the Central Business District to prevent possible street flooding like what happened in Harare recently.

On Tuesday, Harare city authorities reacted with panic after a heavy downpour resulted in clogging of the system.

This caused flooding on the streets destroying property in shops and parked vehicles because of a poor drainage system.

Clr Moyo told Chronicle yesterday that chances of flooding in the Bulawayo City Centre were minimal as council was working tirelessly to prevent the occurrence.

“We don’t foresee any problems in street flooding in this city. In all 29 wards we’ve deployed community groups which comprise 10 people. These people are too few to clear all drainages but they will focus mainly on flood-prone areas like parts of Nkulumane,” said the Mayor.

He said council was understaffed and didn’t have money to employ people to unclog storm drains on a full time basis. Clr Moyo said rampant littering in the city worsened by an acute shortage of bins in the Central Business District leads to drainage blockage.

“The onus is on the community to avoid the danger of possible floods by keeping drains clear. People should throw litter in designated places like bins not in alleys or pavements, even though we’ve a shortage of bins,” said Clr Moyo.

According to figures provided by an official from the local authority, BCC needs 600 bins in the Central Business District but operates with 212 bins.

“Our city has a shortfall of about 388 bins. We do not have any skip bins but we need about 20 of them. This has made refuse collection difficult,” said the official.