Statement: The Harare Residents Trust (HRT) met with Ardbennie suburban committee to educate them on their roles and responsibilities and to discuss some issues affecting the neighbourhood. This media update highlights that the residents are unhappy with the water from the City of Harare, water disconnections, their elected representatives are not effectively representing them and the establishment of a neighbourhood watch committee since the crime rate has been increasing over the recent years. They complained that the water they were receiving for the past half a week was not conducive for them to drink. It has visible impurities. They added that there was illegal water closure for nearly a week starting from 28 May 2018. The HRT is investigating to establish the true situation on this allegation and the suburban committee will engage the Waterfalls District Officer so that they map a way forward and try to stop these water disconnections. Resident also were not sure if it’s their duty to give to council workers food, who are deployed to do work in the suburb such as unblocking sewage or repairing burst pipes.

Speaking on neighbourhood watch committee, residents expressed concern about the crime rate in their neighbourhood. Residents indicated that previously Ardbennie had a neighbourhood watch committee which received financial help from other external organisations and also material help from the residents. Therefore, as a suburb they are thinking of engaging volunteers to conduct night patrols and during the day with the help of Zimbabwe Republic Police to minimise crime rate and increasing drug abuse.

Residents indicated that they have managed to engage the Department of Works of the City of Harare on the issue of erecting humps in Waterfalls Road at Ardbennie Primary School. However, they were notified that they have to revisit since the humps were put at places where they are not necessarily needed. Therefore, if the engagement succeeds there will be a new problem that commuter omnibus will change the route and use routes that are inside the suburb and they will be over-speeding through the roads. This carelessness by the drivers puts the lives of young children at risk. Therefore, residents need both roads to have humps to deter high speed.

Lastly, Ardbennie, being part of Ward 23, in Waterfalls, say they have been very unfortunate in that their elected representatives, both Member of Parliament and Councillor have never bothered to come and meet them to hear their issues. Elected representatives take the area as small and irrelevant therefore they neither visit them nor send representative, which makes them poorly
represented.