A shop in Norton was recently reduced to a burnt shell after catching fire. The shop owners made a call to the fire department but it turns out Norton doesn’t yet have a fire department of its own. Instead, they had to wait for a fire truck to come from Harare. This was revealed by OpenCouncil Harare on their Twitter page. Goods worth around US$70 000 were lost in the tragedy.

A Norton shop with goods and equipment worth over US$70 000 was burnt to ashes on Monday night as the owners waited for a fire truck coming from Harare. Norton has not fire tender of its own. @TembaMliswa @mdczimbabwe @OurMDCT @ZANUPF_Official pic.twitter.com/sZgkNDjFKb

— OpenCouncilHRE (@OpenCouncilHRE) October 5, 2021

Another administrative failure

It’s not clear who is to blame for this loss. The national government and local governments such as those in Harare have been involved in tussles and power moves that have severely crippled service delivery in most urban areas. Roads are often not repaired on time, dilapidated and full of potholes. Now with the rain season around the corner most drains are blocked which may lead to flooding.