Tuesday, residents of ward 19 wrote a petition to the council to stop the construction of a fuel retail outlet on a piece of land near C-Junction – Corner Hadzinanhanga and Mharapara roads – following a heated exchange with the area councillor and Makweza at a meeting which lasted two hours.
Chitungwiza deputy mayor Musa Makweza has been accused of presiding over the illegal allocation of a greenway to a local fuel company to develop a service station. The petition, signed by 44 people, titled Construction of Houses and Service Station at Unit K Intersection, states: “Residents have refused the building of any structures at the intersection because this is a breathing space.”
Richard Mutiti, who lost the 2018 MDC Alliance primary elections, told NewsDay that when he visited the Local Government ministry’s physical planning and State land management director Honesty Magaya on May 5 with other residents, they were told that there were no files allowing for the construction of structures at the site.
“We are against the setting up of any structure at this place. When we went to the ministry on May 5, Magaya told us that there were no files showing that the place was now supposed to have structures,” he said.
“The councillor is refusing to tell us who wants to put a service station here. He is saying he doesn’t know anything and that’s impossible.” A resident, who declined to be named, said: “I was on a call with the permanent secretary who said we should submit a petition.”
He said Makweza is the one who sold the land to a renowned fuel distributor. Chitungwiza resident and Zimbabwe Old People’s Association co-ordinator Paddington Chaparadza said:
“Yesterday, some people cut down trees claiming that they were allocated the land by the council. Surprisingly, what we heard years back was that space was meant for a roundabout and no structures should be built. There should be nothing just as we were told.”
A letter from the director of physical planning’s office written in 2011 says the greenway was to be left untouched. Makweza said he was the one who advised the residents to write a petition.