Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. HARARE mayor Jacob Mafume has urged developers to fulfil legal obligations and developmental standards required for urban projects.
He said they should deliver complete infrastructure, including sewer systems, road and lighting that align with statutory requirements.
This comes after property mogul Ken Sharpe accused council of crippling the economy through poor service delivery, exorbitant fees and what he calls “incompetent operations”.
Sharpe, whose company is behind the billion-dollar Pomona City project, says developers are being forced to shoulder costs that should fall on the local authority.
Addressing journalists last Thursday at Town House after the Community Health Equity Fund (CHEF) signing ceremony, Mafume said for one to be a developer, there were certain requirements that one should meet.
“It is the law that if you are doing a development, you hand over to council a complete product. In other words, you hand over to council a development with sewer, with roads, with lighting. And then that’s why you are being called a developer,” Mafume said.
“If not that, then what are you developing, if you are not developing exactly that? That’s how our law is structured.”
He said there were efforts to include developers in the annual budget planning process, seeking their input on rates adjustment and service enhancements.
“As for the rates, we are starting a budgetary process. As you know, every September we start a budgetary process,” Mafume said.
“Developers are welcome, individually or through their associations, to take part in the budgetary process.
“So that we can look at the rates, they can give their presentations. And if need be, those can be adjusted in the upcoming budget.”
Meanwhile, the Harare mayor encouraged all local authorities to meet their targets.
“Meeting our targets means better service delivery to the residents,” he said.
“And I agree with the minister that a lot of work needs to be done in that school and in that area and together with the President [Emmerson Mnangagwa], we are going to be visiting councils, holding seminars to be able to come up with solutions that improve the life of the residents for us to then be able to meet our targets.”
Mafume acknowledged persistent financial and operational challenges.
“The challenge is ratepayers don’t have money to pay, so we can’t fund the services. The economy is a cash-based economy, we can’t fund a council using cash, we need to fund using loans,” he said.
“There are very few donors. The private sector is not acting as it should be in developing the cities.
“Also, [there are] a number of inefficiencies, personnel challenges that are [being faced by] the cities and sometimes outdated laws that need to be changed, but we have got to work around the cocktail of all these problems to provide services to residents.”
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