Council approves supplementary capital, revenue budget

HARARE City Council has approved a supplementary capital and revenue budget of $555 000 under the 2018 financial year to finance the preparation of the new Harare Combination Master Plan.

According to the director of works Mr Zvenyika Chawatama, the master plan subscribed policy prescription for eight local authorities.

“The environmental management committee resolved to recommend that the council approves a supplementary capital budget of US$555 000 for the procurement of plant and equipment,” he said in the recent council minutes

“The council also approves a supplementary Revenue Budget under the 2017 Revenue Budget amounting to three million to finance the Review of the Harare Combination Master Plan and other Local Development Plans.”

Mr Chawatama said the Master Plan was going to cover the whole city.

“The Harare Master Plan would cover the entire boundary of the city and would guide development and land use with the aid of local plans,” he said “The preparations of the Harare master plan was an approved goal in the Rapid Results Initiative and a report had been prepared and sent to the relevant committee for approval.”

Recently the acting town clerk Engineer Hosiah Chisango said the Harare Combination Master Plan, which became operational in 1994, was 24 years old hence the urgent need to review it in order to align the policy instruments contained therein to the dictates of the obtaining socio, economic and political environment in the Greater Harare Area.

He said the achievements from the current Combination Master include developments such as Westgate, Tynwald suburbs, which have totally changed the face of the city.

He however, added that more work needed to be done in the Southern parts of the city to make the developed areas and settlements self-sufficient, healthy and sustainable, which is expected to cost $350 000 and work will be done over a period of 18 months.