Staff Reporter
MARONDERA– Residents of Rujeko suburb, popularly known as Cherima, have blamed the Municipality of Marondera for failing to timeously respond to, and put out a fire that eventually razed down two houses in Chipinda Street.
The affected Nyika and Chikuni families of Ward 5 have since created a WhatsApp platform group dubbed Cherima House Fire Disaster, seeking donations in cash or kind.
Several well-wishers, including the Ward’s councilor Moses Moyo and Deputy Mayor Joel Mujaranji have since donated groceries, blankets and other items to the affected families.
This is not the first time council has been found wanting when it comes to putting down fire as late last year, vehicle owners were left counting their losses after their cars were burnt to shells at Top Gear Panel Beaters. The shop is a stone’s throw away from the local authority’s fire and ambulance department headquarters.
Back then, the council had a single non-functional fire tender when that incident took place.
Courtesy of the land deal that it entered into with Mega Market in 2019 as well as the Belarus-donated fire tenders, the council now has a fleet of four fire-fighting vehicles.
In an interview with Chaminuka, the Municipality of Marondera’s public relations officer Kudakwashe Tapfumaneyi quashed reports that the council failed to make a swift response to the emergency.
“Our fire brigade team responded with speed soon after receiving a report about the fire incident. However, from preliminary investigations, it appears there were some delays in making the fire report to the fire section which delayed the arrival of the fire brigade on the scene. The cause of the fire is still to be confirmed as investigations are still in progress.
“As council, we urge stakeholders to immediately report any incidence of fire or emergencies on our toll-free number, 0652323325, to access emergency services. Early notification of emergency services will help to save lives and minimise damage to valuable property. The fire incident, unfortunately, befell a council employee and council is in the process of providing temporary accommodation to the fire incident victim,” he said.
Tapfumaneyi added that the Municipality of Marondera is well equipped and has well-trained firemen.
He said: “We have firemen who are properly trained and they recently received training on the use of the new Belarus fire tenders that were acquired courtesy of the Government to Government arrangement that was facilitated by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
“Further to that, our firemen conduct daily morning rehearsals thereby ensuring that they are always ready to immediately respond to emergencies. We are in the process of recruiting new certified fire personnel to man the growing fire tender fleet. The recruitment of new fire personnel is expected to go a long way in enhancing Council’s emergency response capabilities.”
According to the council’s public relations officer, one of the local authority’s four fire tenders was internally acquired while the other three were acquired through various partnerships.
The council’s emergency services, he added, are always service-ready and manned by skilled personnel who are committed to saving lives and restricting damage to valuable property.
In the meantime, Tapfumaneyi said the local authority is finalising the procurement modalities of a US$100 000 generator that is expected to help pump water at its water works in the face of current power outages.
“Procurement modalities are being finalized. Once the necessary processes are complete, council will proceed to acquire the generator which is expected to ease the water supply challenges that are being exacerbated by the prolonged periods of load shedding,” Tapfumaneyi said.
New Ziana