Suburban
Peter Tanyanyiwa Suburban Reporter
An official of the Mt Pleasant Neighbourhood Watch Committee has pleaded with the City of Harare (CoH) to reconsider their decision to ban boom gates.
Recently, the City of Harare declared that all boom gates erected without approval from the municipality were illegal and should therefore be demolished. The municipality said failure to demolish the boom gates would result in the council demolishing them and passing on the cost to the concerned communities.
But residents argue that the boom gates are the only thing standing between them and criminal activities in their neighbourhoods.
In an interview, Mt Pleasant resident and neighbourhood watch committee member Mr David Panganai said the issue of boom gates seemed to have been a nuisance to a few residents prompting council to declare them illegal and order their removal if they were not erected with council approval.
Mr Panganai, however, said when different communities started putting up boom gates through their neighbourhood watch committees, it was in response to rising crime. The boom gates, some of which are manned by security guards had seen criminal activities go down in some suburbs.
“When we started this neighbourhood policing, robberies, daylight muggings and house breakings were daily occurrences. The thieves were operating with impunity in the neighbourhood. The police were trying their best, but they being under resourced could not cope and respond in time to the frequent reports. A few of us decided to act and we formed the neighbourhood watch security. We had the blessing of the police who vetted our personnel and could from time to time assist with training and monitoring our guards,” he said.
“With time the crime rate dropped drastically in our area which is part of Northwood. Eventually we have incorporated nearly all roads in Northwood with the cooperation of fellow residents. We are now sleeping peacefully with few or no incidences of crime. The booms in question assist the guards at night to vet vehicles entering our area. This has the deterrent effect on those intending to commit crimes in our area.”
Mr Panganai said the boom gates had secured their neighbourhoods and the only criminal activities recorded were alleged inside jobs.
He pleaded with the City authorities to draw a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with residents on boom gates and even earn revenue through charging a reasonable amount for them.
“The few break-ins we have experienced during our tenure of neighbourhood policing are mostly inside jobs or from operators within our area but according to our incident book, the cases are negligible. I would like to appeal to council to reconsider its intention to remove the boom gates. All they can do in my opinion is to set some standards and operational rules. They can also earn some revenue by charging a few dollars for the booms.
“May I reiterate that the booms have assisted us especially the majority who cannot afford hiring private security guards. May I also take this opportunity to invite those residents who have not joined us to do so and help protect our neighbourhood. The more people join in, the less the cost it becomes per household. Thank you in advance council, we look forward to your engagement with us and come to an amicable MOU,” said Mr Panganai.
Acting Harare Mayor Stewart Musarurwa Mutizwa says council is not banning the erection of boom gates in suburbs but wants residents to abide by the law when putting them up.
Cllr Mutizwa said boom gates must be erected in terms of by-laws and residents or communities wishing to erect the security barriers should approach council and seek the municipality’s approval before embarking on the exercise.
He recently said wide consultations should be done before a boom gate is authorised, meaning the residents and council should sanction the structure in order to properly secure the community and maintain smooth flow of traffic at the same time.
“The boom gates issue, remains a by-law issue. For anyone to just wake up and to have put up a boom gate or a barrier, it is illegal. It is not allowed, you need to consult both the residents themselves and council. We are cognisant of the prevalent cases in terms of security and thefts,” he said.
“Council says for anyone or any community to have a boom gate, there must be a process of consultations that needs to be conducted, looking at the case of an ambulance where there is an emergency and the boom gate will be closed without an attendant, a life may be lost, and also in the cases of fire, lives may also be lost,” said Councillor Mutizwa.
