Suburban
THE City of Harare has been urged to review its operating procedures if the municipality’s turnaround for implementation of ideas or strategies is to be in sync with the needs of residents.
Peter Tanyanyiwa Suburban Reporter
The call came from the Borrowdale Ratepayers and Residents Association in the wake of delays in attending to the structural defects to the building which houses the Borrowdale District Office.
Borrowdale District Office was recently declared unsuitable for human habitation by the city’s safety department and is due for closure because of some structural defects which have been known to the local authority since January of 2021.
In an interview this week, BRRA chairperson Mr Robert Mutyasira said that the roof of the Borrowdale District Office has been compromised so much that the trusses and tiles are falling off.
“The guttering of the uniquely built structure has not been maintained and has given in resulting in rain water gushing into the passages, extensively damaging the ceiling during the rainy seasons. Consequently, the building is in a deplorable state. BRRA has attempted to come to the rescue of the building by financing the termite extermination exercise at the end of 2021.
There is now minimal termite activity which can be easily dealt with.
Residents have contributed ceiling boards after BRRA appealed for donations of materials towards the repairs. These ceiling boards are still in the boardroom and no initiative has been taken by council to fit them,” he said.
The BRRA has also bought and installed water tanks to harness water running off from the roof to assist with water supplies for the district office.
The idea was for the harvested run-off water to at least be used in the ablution facilities at the council office.
“We were moved to reach out after hearing that council staff were having to bring their own water from home. It is surprising how water is not getting to other buildings around the district office complex yet the clinic within the same complex and other residences in the vicinity of the district office receive municipal water when it is available.
There appears to be a minor problem someone is just not attending to.
As much as residents have tried to assist with repairs the city is not reciprocating these efforts.
It is saddening to see the situation of the round house (as the Borrowdale District Office is commonly known in the suburb) deteriorate to this extent yet BRRA has been making frantic efforts to avert this situation.
“Closure of the district office will impact negatively on residents as they will have to travel as far as Rowan Martin Building to pay their bills and for other needs.
Residents are concerned as to why attending to a burst water pipe should take more than five days. Recently along Herbert Chitepo near its intersection with Fife Avenue, there was a pipe burst that went unattended for nearly a week and judging by the gushing of the water, the loss of raw water is unimaginable. The flow went as far down as Second Street (Sam Nujoma Street) for this duration. This is just but one example of the complacency and incompetence prevailing in our local authority,” said Mr Mutyasira.
