By Trevor Makonyonga
Norton legislator, Temba Mliswa has urged hid town’s council to be better organised inorder for the town to realise it’s full potential.
Speaking to Bustop TV during the fumigation of Norton against COVID 19, Mliswa said Norton has many factories to make it an economic centre.
Responding to a question about clutter and dinginess in the town.
“The are bylaws which are there. The council knows what it has to do. As you can see we are building a bus terminus here which is very important for the people of Norton and they deserve to have a place where there is order. Equally, I have always said to the council they must be able to build good structure which they also are able to sell their products. Ultimately it gives the council revenue too because we need both. But it has to be done in any orderly way, toilets are built and water sanitation is there. So that gives an opportunity for council now to say to the people we are now building new markets for you which have proper revenue. We have companies here, GDI, Zimplats, Tripple C, Raha and Sunny Yi Feng are all here. Why can’t they invest in the market which will be a Chinese market? Norton is poised also to be a special economic zone. All those opportunities are there but only where there is order. As the legislator of this place I lead in that order complying with the laws of this country (and) working with the police as well. It has been a united front, noone is better than the other but this is about leadership and this is where leadership should come through.”
Mliswa also explain why it was necessary to fumigate shopping centres and informal trading areas mostly to which he described as hotspots.
“Katanga is really the hotspot for traffic in Norton as such Speed where the fish mongers are has to be disinfected there is no two ways about it. The lorry has done this and we have got all the key points. But we have not only targeted the hotspots but also the entire roads and main roads. (It is) this entire constituency that we are dealing with at the end of the day. After this we can then be able to say we have done our best. I am coming from being tested and I am negative so I am also preaching that. So once we have this done, in a way it helps a lot in terms of disinfecting the areas which I think are hotspots. What is critical about this is people also staying in and the discipline that is there is amazing. We are aware that there is no resource from a medical point of view which can safeguard anybody if they are not feeling well so the best way is prevention is better than cure. This is the highest level of discipline that you can see and they listen to us and they are able to live better and enjoy the fruits of Norton and of labour after a certain point. It’s time to clean up the place and have a fresh start and start organizing ourselves. There must be order at the end of the day but how can you enjoy the fruits when you are not alive? The most important thing is to protect their lives when their lives are protected then we have a whole lot of time to plan for our future.”
The Norton Member of Parliament also implored the collectivity of efforts in Norton in the fight against COVID-19 and hunger.
“When we talk to the people about this disease conscientisation they are also aware that it is there. If we don’t talk to them then who will talk to them? We then hybernate. This is a time for leadership to emerge, conscientise the people, support the frontline staffers and provide the neccesities the basics (like) food. Tomorrow (today) we are going to do the mealie meal programme. We are looking at about ten thousand households. Blue Ribbon has chipped in, National Foods has chipped in and the retailers. So it will be strategically positioned. There is no point for people to just come to OK or TM. I am talking about ten thousand bags coming in. The aspect of corruption and the aspect of inflating prices (or) selling in US dollars will not happen because we have agreed. I am the Chairperson of the taskforce and the police will be helping us in terms of enforcing the laws. The councillors are chairpersons of every ward and in that taskforce security is there. our taskforce from the MPs office is the Secretariat, religion is there. We deal with problems of Norton working together abiding by the law and saying to the police where there is no peace and order they come and they do it but we are better placed than the police to talk to the people. The resources are coming from everyone,” Mliswa said.
The hydrogen peroxide chemical was sprayed at Twinlakes Shopping Centre, Katanga Shopping Centre and Calfa Shops among other areas.
