Gweru, City Parking partnership pays dividends

THE partnership between Gweru City Council and City Parking is paying dividends as the local authority has managed to buy multi-purpose yellow machines and attend to service delivery issues through remittances from the vehicle parking management system.

In an interview yesterday, mayor Martin Chivhoko said council managed to ring-fence money received from City Parking and purchased a tractor loader backhoe for road maintenance and street lighting.

“We managed to buy a tractor loader backhoe and attend to robots, street lights and pothole patching,” Chivhoko said.

“We are currently running a tender for street lighting so that we rehabilitate the public lighting system in the city.”

A tractor loader backhoe is a multi-purpose machine that provides efficient digging, trenching, back filling and material handling services, among other functions.

Chivhoko said public private partnerships between the local authority and private players were key in enhancing service delivery to residents.

The partnership between council and City Parking started in April 2021 and remittances from the firm have improved revenue inflows into council coffers.

Council entered into the deal with City Parking for the latter to collect parking fees and provide clamping services against errant motorists after it was discovered that municipal workers were contributing to revenue leakages through corrupt activities.

The old manual system used by council to collect parking fees had long been condemned by both motorists and residents as open to abuse by council employees.