adminHerald Correspondent
More than 50 farmers have benefited from the rehabilitation of a road from Mapinga to Trelawney in Mashonaland West by the Economic Empowerment Group (EEG), a local lobby group, as it complements Government’s infrastructural development programmes aimed at leaving no-one and no place behind.
The rehabilitation of the roads in the farming area is a first step by EEG that will culminate in the replication of the exercise in other provinces.
The move is aimed at transforming communities in line with the Second Republic’s desire to attain an upper middle-income society by 2030.
Infrastructure development is also in line with National Development Strategy 1 that targets improving key road infrastructure to allow smooth movement of products.
Over the weekend, EEG rehabilitated 30km of the road from Mapinga to Trelawney, much to the joy of farmers.
Mr Clifford Hlupeko, the EEG secretary general, said the road rehabilitation would benefit 50 A2 farmers and ease their access to Government farming inputs and make a lot easier to truck out their harvests for sale.
“As EEG, we are doing the little we can to complement Government efforts like what President Mnangagwa said that ‘Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo’,” he said. “This road will help farmers to transport their produce hassle-free and we shall be embarking on our second phase soon.”
Mr Hlupeko challenged Zimbabweans to work hard to shrug off the illegal sanctions imposed on the country by the West.
A beneficiary of land reform, Mr Moses Mpofu, who is also a member of the EEG, said they had identified some roads in the country which they would rehabilitate using own resources.
“This is not the only road we are working on. We have identified some roads across the country that we will be rehabilitating soon as part of our giving back to communities and building our nation,” he said.
Mr Mpofu said they were thankful to Government and Zanu PF for empowering youths and encouraging them to develop their country.
EEG president Mr Mike Chimombe encouraged youths to contribute towards national development. He said as EEG, they were working with youths in various empowerment projects aimed at empowering them. He urged the youths to join EEG for business ideas, which will see them having a money-making mind-set.
“As EEG, we are there to make sure that youths are empowered and are able to make money so that they can contribute to the development of the country,” said Mr Chimombe.
A farmer and beneficiary of the road rehabilitation, Mr Tanos Marumbi, said he was happy that he can now transport his produce without any problems.
“The road was too narrow such that it allowed one vehicle to pass, but now it is wide and easily accommodates two vehicles making it easy for us to transport our produce,” he said.
Ms Emeritus Nzombe also said: “I feel happy because now we have a wide road which we can use to transport our produce. I would like to thank EEG for such a humble gesture.”
Government has been reconstructing and rehabilitating roads across the country under the Emergency Road Repair Program (ERRP) 2, which has seen hundreds of kilometres being rehabilitated.
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