Neglected buildings turn CBD into an eyesore
IT is evident that a good number of buildings in Mutare’s Central Business District are at different levels of dilapidation, neglect and in dire need of urgent a facelift.
A stroll in the periphery of the CBD — from the old TNT Building to Mutare Flyover and then the downtown area around Jerams’ Building — reveals the sad reality of a town that yearns for Smart City eminence, yet it is saddled with neglected buildings that deprive it of the glamour that it yearns for.
While some of the dilapidated buildings still provide accommodation to small-scale enterprises, it is also a fact that some of them have become havens for drug peddlers and ladies of the night.
It is common knowledge that not every city needs to be engineered from the ground going up to be smart. In fact, older buildings and cities can be retrofit in smaller, but important ways.
Smart buildings often allow their owners and operators to extract better data out of the structures, and make continuous tweaks to their energy consumption.
Thus, Mutare City Council recently also expressed concern over lack of interest by property owners to spruce them up.
The city council is now contemplating pursuing the legal route to force them to give their properties a facelift.
Without doubt, in recent years, the city has experienced an unprecedented increase in the number of abandoned, neglected and derelict CBD buildings.
As per statutory obligations, the local authority issues notices to identified properties and also has latitude in terms of the statutory provisions to carry out such operations to remove the offending danger or nuisance to the public at the cost of landlords.
Just like any other local authority, Mutare City Council also has the authority to repossess such properties as guided by the Titles Registration and Derelict Lands Act, Chapter 20:20.
City of Mutare has issued a one-month notice to all property owners and occupants of dilapidated buildings in the CBD to spruce them up.
The notice requires them to undertake repairs, refurbishment and repainting of their properties, the primary goal being to enhance their aesthetics in particular, and that of the city in general.
No wonder why the local authority insisted that those who fail to comply with the corrective action by April 8, 2024 will be dragged to court for violating the provisions of the Act and the operative Town Planning Scheme of the city’s heart and soul.
“The City of Mutare wherein referred to as the Local Planning Authority, is giving one-month notice to all property owners and occupants of buildings in the Central Business District to have these repaired/ refurbished and repainted. This is being done to improve the aesthetics. It can be widely agreed that most buildings in the Central Business District have gone for a long time unattended, thereby dilapidating.
“This is also in contravention of the provisions of the said Act and the operative Town Planning Scheme covering the area. This corrective action should be taken not later than April 8, 2024, failure of which council will proceed to take legal action in line with the provisions of the Act,” reads the notice.
The curse of dilapidated buildings is not peculiar to Mutare only, as Rusape Town Council has issued a similar public notice.
Rusape is gunning for municipal status, but the outlook of its CDB buildings are an eyesore to say the least.
The global observance of World Cities Day, first held in 2014, and organised by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme in coordination with each year’s selected host city, seeks to emphasise the world’s urban challenges and engage the international community toward the New Urban Agenda.
One of the major challenges relates to dilapidated and neglected buildings in CBDs.
Civil engineering expert, Engineer George Munodawafa said this is, not only unique to Mutare, but nearly all local authorities across the globe.
“This is a problem that many cities across
the globe are grappling with. It is an issue that touches on many aspects of current socio-economic factors, but at the end of the day, cities cannot develop with dilapidated or neglected buildings.
“The good thing is that local authorities are empowered to act on the issue and they need to do so without fear or favour. That is the only way the Smart City concept can become a reality,” he said.
The legally binding expectations of refurbished buildings is commonplace.
In Harare, for example, in terms of Section 49 (1) Chapter 2 of the Model Building By-Laws (1977), the status of some buildings/properties contravenes the requirements which state that: “No person shall allow any building constructed upon premises of which he is the owner or occupier to become (a) a danger to the health of persons occupying or using the building, or to the health of the public; or (b) the source of unpleasant fumes, smoke or odour; or (c) unsightly or a disfigurement to the neighbourhood;
or (d) in any other way offensive or embarrassing to the people living or working upon the premises or in the neighbourhood.”
The well-being and nice outlook of buildings in the CBD improves the overall aesthetics and safety of buildings.
Summarily, as Mutare labours to achieve the Smart City concept, residents can only expect to see the revitalisation of the city as property owners bring their structures up to code.