Bulawayo (New Ziana) – The rapidly expanding Cowdray Park suburb requires its own local board to effectively address mounting infrastructure and service delivery challenges as its population continues to grow, a Cabinet minister said.
Finance and Investment Promotion Minister Prof Mthuli Ncube said this on the sidelines of a fact-finding tour by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Local Government, Public Works and National Housing on informal and dysfunctional settlements and housing projects in Bulawayo province.
The committee toured Cowdray Park’s Hlalani Kuhle/Garikayi housing scheme, the Richmond Landfill informal settlement, Burombo Flats and Iminyela suburb.
Prof Ncube said the suburb had grown beyond the capacity of conventional municipal administration and required a governance structure dedicated to its unique development needs.
“Cowdray Park needs 30 more schools. It is bigger than Hwange, it is bigger than Gwanda, and in the next few years it will be just like another Chitungwiza in Bulawayo. It may even need its own local board. The demands are many – housing, roads, schools, sewage and electricity,” he.
He said the scale of development required in the suburb called for coordinated government intervention and sustained investment in essential infrastructure.
Significant progress has been made in improving access to clean water and sanitation services, he said, but acknowledging that much more remained to be done to ensure residents enjoyed adequate public services.
Prof Ncube said the government is working with the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) on interventions to improve public infrastructure, including restoring street lighting.
“As I speak, in two weeks’ time we will have another program, working with the city council, to repair up to 50 tower lights to make sure that the place is well lit during the night. A lot of work still needs to be done,” he said.
He commended the Portfolio Committee for undertaking the tour, saying first-hand appreciation of conditions on the ground would assist legislators in supporting development initiatives when Parliament deliberates on resource allocation and policy matters.
“When we are back in Parliament in Harare, we can all encourage each other on how to support an urban constituency like this one. We need not just treat places like Cowdray Park as ordinary urban areas because there is much more that should be done in a developmental sense,” he said.
Cowdray Park, one of Bulawayo’s fastest-growing suburbs, was established under the Hlalani Kuhle/Garikayi housing program to provide accommodation for families affected by Operation Murambatsvina, and has since experienced rapid population growth.
The area has an estimated population of 70 000 dwellers.
However, the expansion has outpaced the provision of key infrastructure and social amenities, resulting in shortages of schools, roads, water, sewer services and electricity.
The visit by the Portfolio Committee forms part of its nationwide oversight program aimed at assessing housing developments, informal settlements and service delivery challenges to inform future legislative and budgetary interventions.
New Ziana
