THE Bulawayo City Council has advised residents against cultivating in unauthorised places, which it says is against the local authority’s environmental by-laws.
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The local authority says it is illegal to cultivate within 10m along road verges and within 30m of the verge of any spring veils, swamp, or reed bed.
The by-laws also state that no person shall cultivate within 30m of the high flood level of any body of artificially conserved water. In a statement yesterday, council said white stone beacons had been placed to mark the prohibited areas.
“Cultivators who exceed the stone beacons risk having their crops destroyed,” the council said.
Council officials and residents have in the past clashed over cultivation in protected areas, with the local authority being accused of cruelty after it slashed crops.
Council advised residents to stop defying environmental laws as such offences attract a maximum fine of $500 and repeat offenders maybe taken to court for stiffer sentences.
The local authority insists that sections 10 (4) of the city’s by-laws state that no compensation shall be paid by council in respect to any crop destroyed.
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Bulawayo Residents’ Association chairman Winos Dube said his association always made it a priority to encourage residents to adhere to laid down city by-laws.
“We always remind residents that they should not plant in such areas and to understand that the council does so to protect the environment,” he said.
“In the meetings we have, we always educate residents.”
With the high prices of food and liquidity challenges, residents complement their food with crops they would have planted in open areas.
The demand for land has often seen some residents clashing with council as they would have planted in protected areas.
