By Correspondent
Behind Westlea’s relatively affluent façade, residents say a far less glamorous reality is unfolding.
Inreliable electricity, failing water infrastructure, limited healthcare and inadequate secondary schools are exposing what they describe as serious gaps in service delivery.
In a statement on service delivery, Sandra Chiketa-Shamuyarira, community coordinator for the HRT, said Westlea was among areas benefiting from recent City of Harare upgrades but continued to face challenges requiring urgent attention.
“Electricity outages remain a major concern, with residents reporting disruptions to household activities, studies and small businesses.
Chiketa-Shamuyarira attributed the instability to ageing infrastructure.
She said some residents with financial means were turning to solar power, while poorer households remained vulnerable to prolonged outages.
“Many of the power lines and substations serving Westlea are old and require urgent maintenance or even complete overhauls to ensure they can handle the current demand without faltering.
“This has seen the upper-class citizens purchasing solar panels while the lower classes stay in the dark.
The water situation is equally troubling.
According to Chiketa ageing and corroded pipes are frequently bursting, wasting water and flooding streets.
Meanwhile shortages have driven residents to sink boreholes and wells.
Those unable to afford alternative water sources, it said, are forced to walk long distances carrying buckets.
“The irony of paying for an absent service” has not been lost on residents.
This has been made more stark following the introduction of prepaid water meters.
Residents claim this has left some households unable to access council water.
Healthcare presents another glaring gap, with Westlea lacking a council clinic.
Residents have to travel to Warren Park 1 or Warren Park D for basic services.
The statement said overcrowding and long queues at those facilities were placing additional pressure on residents seeking affordable medical care.
Education is also under strain.
Although Westlea has a council primary school, the statement said the shortage of secondary schools was forcing pupils to travel to Warren Park, Kambuzuma, Cold Comfort and Kuwadzana.
Private alternatives remain expensive and increasingly stretched.
For residents, the message is blunt: a suburb that continues to grow cannot indefinitely rely on infrastructure and services struggling to keep pace with it.
The statement has called for urgent investment, reconstruction and maintenance of basic infrastructure.
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