Residents in Zimbiru Village in Ward 4 Domboshava expressed mixed feelings over the upcoming regularisation process by council, as some vouched to reject it because of unclear areas while some welcomed it.
Villagers got the opportunity to register their feelings today at a meeting which was held at Zimbiru Primary School where the Chairman of the Zimbiru Residents Committee, Mr Tinayi Munetsi together with Mr Chimugoti were briefing parents about regularisation program.
Villagers who vouched to reject the move feared that the development will affect their structures as they could be in the way of places where roads will be built.
A lady who is popularly known in the area as "Chihera" said the regularisation process should be stopped because the road widening exercise may lead to the destruction of structures that are built close to the existing roads which will leave a lot of people homeless.
"We should stop this regularisation process from commencing because it will affect a lot of people. Most of us have built our houses close to our roads for accessibility but if they are saying they will widen them, what will happen to our structures? If they order for their removal, where will we go in this difficult economy? She said.
Another man who called for the rejection of this program feared that the case by case approach that will be used by council to re-plan the area will give council the power to intimidate people to bow down to their demands which may affect their current living arrangements.
"I do not think that council has good intentions here. Why do they want to do the case by case model of re planning the area? Will that not give them the power to intimidate us into yielding to their demands? We heard that council wants to take some of our land so they will easily do it through their case by case initiative because we will be on our own when they come to us" he said.
Those who welcomed the idea said it would give them some form of security over their land as they will be given stand numbers which will increase their prospects of getting tittle deeds over their land.
A villager who is in support of this move told Domboshava Dot Coms on the sidelines of the meeting that he welcomes the move but suggested that there be a committee that will work hand in glove with council when they carry out their program so that the interests of the villagers will be protected.
"I think the idea is good, but we need to have a residents committee that will work with council to represent the interests of the residents. There may be cases where council may want to demolish a persons house to pave way for a road. That is where the committee will stand and make sure that the affected person can be compensated or relocated to another suitable place" he said.
His suggestion was shared by the majority of villagers as they made a resolution to select a residents committee that will stand for the people and make sure that council conducts its processes without displacing people and destroying their structures.
In an exclusive interview with Domboshava Dot Coms, Mr Tineyi Munetsi said the purpose of the meeting was to brief the villagers of the coming program and hear their views.
"The purpose of this meeting was to brief the residents of the coming regularisation program and hear their views. We wanted the villagers in Zimbiru to come up with a position towards this program because its implementation process will begin in this village" he said.
"It would have been nice to have the councillor around to inform the residents of what the program entails. But we are happy that the meeting went well and people aired their views. We now wait for council to conduct its stakeholder meeting to inform the residents" he added.
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