The Herald (Harare)
6 July 2009
Harare — THE decision by the Harare City Council to demolish illegal structures needs the support of everyone as we have witnessed, in recent times, the mushrooming of such structures.
Unsanctioned buildings both residential and commercial have been constructed in most parts of the city with council making no effort to stop them.
It is, thus, a breath of fresh air to learn that council has resolved to bring back order and sanity to the city along the lines of the famous Operation Murambatsvina, widely criticised then by those who wanted to score cheap political mileage.
There are by-laws that all residents and those running businesses have to abide by and the onus is on council to ensure this is done to avoid a situation of lawlessness.
The demolition of illegal structures conforms to the concept of the rule of law where council by-laws or national laws have to be followed.
There is nothing evil or hard line for a local authority to enforce its laws. In law, it is no excuse to be ignorant of the law and the same applies to those who build structures without making themselves familiar with the city by-laws.
There is nowhere in the world where people just build houses or business premises without getting the green light from council as allowing such a scenario would, without doubt, promote anarchy.
We, thus, want to commend the Harare City Council for resolving to demolish all mushrooming illegal structures and to bring sanity at markets where most stallholders are believed to be paying nothing to the local authority.
Squatter camps in Gunhill, along the Mukuvisi River and unsanctioned markets, among other places in the city, have become a cause for concern for the city fathers at a time they are battling to spruce up the image of the city and bring back its Sunshine City status.
It is disheartening to note that the cash-strapped council has allowed stallholders at markets to continue trading without paying money yet council needs every cent it can lay its hands on to improve service delivery.
There are concerns about council's failure to live up to the expectations of residents in terms of service delivery. We have seen council failing to collect garbage, service the pothole-filled city roads and upgrade the sewer system because of lack of funds.
Yet there are people allowed to build houses and business premises without paying a cent to council. In such instances, there is no supporting infrastructure, which has led to disease outbreaks, owing to the clogging of the sewer systems.
Even in the rural areas, people don't just build wherever they deem fit, as there are kraal heads to designate residential, cropping and grazing areas. If all the people manning stalls at markets paid rent and rates to council, obviously the little money so collected would help in improving service delivery.
Such tasks like plugging leaks in water pipelines, provision of refuse bags and filling of potholes would be done without much ado.
The large chunk of money council gets from the Government and other donors would then go towards large projects such as rehabilitation of the water and sewerage plants, among other works. We call upon council to deal with corrupt elements within its ranks who are promoting the emergence of illegal structures by allocating land for kickbacks.
Senior officials behind the sprouting of illegal structures should be investigated and those found on the wrong side of the law should be brought to book.
It is, indeed, the love of money that has resulted in the sprouting of illegal structures as council officials get kickbacks for allocating space either for residential or business purposes.
Let such bad apples be plucked off our midst and have people in council with the interest of the city at heart and not those out to make a quick buck by flouting by-laws.
Although some people at illegal markets are there to make an honest living, this must, however, be done within the confines of the city by-laws. For as long as such markets are not sanctioned by council, they remain illegal and must be demolished.
Of course, council has the power to regularise some of the markets and structures, but this must not be encouraged as it promotes corruption among officials who may sanction illegal structures knowing fully well they would eventually be regularised.
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