BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) says it has approached Local Government minister Saviour Kasukuwere seeking approval to hire private technical staff to fix its obsolete water infrastructure.
BY NQOBANI NDLOVU
This comes amid reports that the local authority was losing large quantities of water through leakages as most pipes had outlived their lifespan.
Latest council minutes indicated that a total of 990 reports of pipe bursts or leaks were recorded in May with the local authority attending an average of 90 faults a day.
City engineering director Simela Dube recently told council that his department was facing a critical staff shortage.
“The backlog continued to increase: for example, in May 990 reports were received and 635 were attended to. It was necessary to increase staff establishment considering the growth of the city,” council said.
“BCC had 11 plumbers dealing with 133 000 connections compared to other smaller local authorities which had 14 plumbers who attended to 14 000 connections.
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“He (Dube) confirmed that his department was looking at the possibility of involving private contractors. The challenge was that such contractors by-passed the municipal system resulting in illegal activities.”
Bulawayo mayor Martin Moyo said the 30:70% ratio for salaries and service delivery prescribed by central government made it difficult for local authorities to recruit staff, hence the need to engage the Local Government ministry.
“The 30/70 ratio was also a problem.
“There was therefore need to request for authority to employ in the critical shortage areas, in this case plumbers. A way should be found on how to deal with the 30/70 ratio as this was affecting service delivery.
“The issue of 30/70 ratio should be revisited with the incoming Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing,” Moyo said.
