adminShe gently taps the infant with the other hand apparently to lull him into sleep.
Miss Tlou has just walked out of Zezani Clinic where she had brought her baby for routine immunisation.
However, the thought of walking another 10km back to her home at Madali village under Beitbridge West Constituency seems unbearable.
“I woke up as early as 5am so that I could walk a distance of 10km to Zezani Clinic to have my baby immunised because we don’t have a clinic in our area. Now I have to brave the scorching sun and walk another 10km back home,” Miss Tlou said.
The lady is one of several women and men in areas surrounding Zezani Business Centre who have to contend with walking long distances to the centre to seek medication at the local clinic.
Another woman from Whunga, Ms Melinda Ndou (28) said: “Right now I am expecting and I am forced to travel to Zezani Clinic every month for routine check-up just because we don’t have a clinic in our area. We continue to get empty promises from the local leadership and we are saying Government must come in and assist by constructing a local clinic.”
Other villagers expressed concern over the situation, saying they had lost trust in the local leadership due to its failure to address the challenges they faced.
“We have people that we have voted into political offices hoping that they would develop our constituency and address some of the major challenges, but sadly they are not doing anything. They just come to us when it is election time and after that they disappear without trace and only resurface during campaign time,” said Mr
Musindo Muleya of Dendele village.
The councillor for Beitbridge Rural District Council Ward 12, Gladys Tlou said villagers in Whunga, Malikuwa, Dendele and Madali walk long distances to Zezani Clinic for medication.
Villagers from Tshamnangana, Mpande and Mtangamtshena in neighbouring Ward 11 also rely on Zezani Clinic.
Although plans are under way to construct another clinic at Whunga to help ease the burden on local villagers who are walking long distances to Zezani, Clr Tlou said a lack of funds continued to stall the proposed project.
“The Beitbridge Rural District Council has proposed a clinic at Whunga under our five-year strategic plan but lack of funds is the major challenge. We have also approached donors and non-governmental organisations to chip in with assistance to no avail,” she said.
Clr Tlou also expressed concern over the poor road network, which has resulted in some public transporters pulling out of the route.
“Villagers in Zezani and surrounding areas are also facing a serious challenge in terms of transport because of the poor roads. We urge Government to address the problem as some transporters were pulling out due to poor roads,” she said.
Villagers said unscrupulous and unregistered transport operators were now cashing in on the situation by charging exorbitant fares. Registered transport companies
charge R60 for a distance of about 135km from Zezani to Beitbridge while private transporters charge between R80 and R90 for the same distance.
“Our roads are so bad resulting in buses pulling out of the route and we are appealing to relevant authorities to assist. We need more buses and kombis to ply the Beitbridge-Zezani road as those who are not registered demand high fares, which are way beyond our reach,” said Mr Mudadzo Muleya of Tshamnangana.
He said the poor road network also impacted negatively particularly on the distribution of food to the area as most transporters contracted by Grain Marketing Board
(GMB) to ferry food pulled out of the route.
Some cars, mostly the unfashionable and unroadworthy Datsun 120Ys have since taken over by plying the Zezani-Makhado route.
“However, you will note that since the owners of these cars fear that their vehicles might be impounded by the police, they don’t proceed to Beitbridge and they just dump us at the Bulawayo-Beitbridge road. We are then forced to look for transport to Beitbridge and that is costly,” said Mr Luke Makhado of Siyoka.
The secretary of the Beitbridge Rural Taxis’ Association, Mr Gerald Sibanda said: “The problem of bad roads in the areas that we service needs serious attention. Our vehicles constantly break down and some roads are inaccessible such that some operators ended up pulling out.
“We, however, challenge local commercial farmers and safari operator, Sentinel Safaris, to chip in with assistance since they are the ones who benefit most in terms of business,” he said.
The councillor for Ward 12 in the same constituency, Clr Pin Mbedzi said villagers faced an acute shortage of clean water due to several malfunctioning boreholes servicing the community.
The worst affected areas include Madzivhe, Majini, Siyoka, Mpande and Mutangamtshena.
Villagers challenged the local MP, Cde Metrine Mudau, to mobilise Government and donors to help rehabilitate dams and boreholes servicing the area.
“We are appealing to our MP to assist by approaching well-wishers and donors to assist us by rehabilitating boreholes, which have not been functioning for several months now. We are now relying on unhygienic water sources and our fear is that there could be an outbreak of cholera if the problem is not urgently addressed,” said Ms Seyani Muleya of Majini.
Cde Mudau, who was elected for the first in 2008 on a Zanu-PF ticket, highlighted some of the positive developments in her constituency.
“Since I came into office as MP for Beitbridge West Constituency, I managed to approach local mobile network companies to install boosters and now there is improved communication in several parts of my constituency.
“We also used our CDF money to extend Masera Clinic and the refurbishment of several schools. Plans are under way to construct a secondary school at Ndambe to cater for the local community,” she said.
She, however, said several projects were yet to be completed due to a lack of funds.
“Just like any other area, we have our own challenges. Most of our roads are in a bad state, especially the one linking Masera, Swereki and Zezani with Beitbridge town. We brought this to the attention of the District Development Fund (DDF) so that they rehabilitate them, but they are saying their equipment is currently down.
“The other challenge that we are facing is that villagers are now forced to travel to Beitbridge to buy maize as well as accessing grain under the Government funded loan scheme since the transporters contracted by GMB have pulled out of the routes citing poor roads,” she said.
Some of the bridges which were destroyed by the Cyclone Eline induced floods in 2000 have not yet been repaired.
The MP called on the Department of Irrigation to revive several irrigation schemes to help alleviate a food shortage in the area.
“Beitbridge is a drought-prone district lying in Region Five, which is normally characterised by low rainfall and people rely mainly on irrigation farming. We therefore urge Government to rehabilitate major irrigations schemes most of which are not working at full capacity due to the constant breakdown of engine pumps,” she said.
Online Reporter