MUTARE- Financially hamstrung municipality of Mutare is struggling to undertake service delivery due to a serious shortage of service vehicles across all departments, officials at the local authority have revealed.
In particular, the health department has a vehicle deficiency above 60 percent as the council currently runs a fleet of just three ambulances.
Council spokesperson, Spren Mutiwi, said the city health department needs five more ambulances to fully service the city after procuring one ambulance recently.
“We have procured one more ambulance to bring them to three; the recapitalization process is bearing fruit with the focus to improve the health service delivery.
“We are still pursuing the issue of procuring additional ambulances, we now need more than eight more ambulances to fully service the City, if you are aware the fire department also needs its own fleet of ambulances to fully carry its duties.
“With the approval of the new master plan the number of ambulances is set to increase, as Mutare City Council we are re-tooling to address most of the thorny issues of the service delivery,” he said.
Mutiwi was speaking following the purchase of a new ambulance to add to the current two operational ones.
Mutare city wants to be self-sustainable in its service provision, as plans are also afoot to procure capital-intensive road machinery and technical equipment, said Mutiwi.
He said other departments in dire constraint of equipment include the Municipal Police services, the Fire department- as the council pushes through its city expansion drive.
Before the purchase of the new ambulance only one was functioning as the other one had a breakdown.
Mutiwi also said council have also received a second tipper truck and is in the process of acquiring its first road grader since 2008.
Deputy Mayor, councilor Farai Bhiza also revealed that the city is operating with one fire tender and a single ambulance covering a population of approximately 260 000, according to the 2012 census.
Speaking during a recent service delivery meeting, Bhiza said the same fire tender was also expected to service Rusape Town, which is located 75km from the eastern border town.
City authorities recently came under fire from ratepayers for secretly purchasing top-of-the-range vehicles for executives at the expense of service delivery.
Auditor-General’s 2019 Local Authorities audit report shows that City of Miutare, like most municipalities in the country, is blighted by administrative failures.
Mutare city is operating without key policy documents, improperly managing council assets, while finances are in shambles as cash collected is not banked. Council also fails to provide a breakdown of $1.1 million written off as part of a discount promotion.
The AG report further notes failure to review and approve payroll prior to processing, absence of control over contracted out services, and development of settlements without ministerial approval.
