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Victor Maphosa in MUTOKO
The days of walking long distances in search of healthcare services will soon be over for members of the Chisambiro community in Mutoko following the construction of a clinic in Ward 18 by the Government.
Construction of the clinic is being financed through devolution funds, as Government works hard to ensure health services are brought closer to the people.
The clinic, which will have a maternity ward, is now over 70 percent complete and villagers from Chisambiro’s Wards 18 and 19 have praised the Government for constructing the clinic.
Villagers presently walk for over 25km to the next clinic.
In an interview, a villager Ms Concilia Tori from Ward 18 said the new clinic will rescue them.
“At first we made some contributions as members of the community. However, with the coming in of the Second Republic which availed devolution funds, we can see great progress in the construction of our clinic and we are grateful to the Government and Mutoko Rural District Council,” she said.
“What is left is for the Government to make sure the clinic is opened as soon as possible so that we do not continue to walk for long distanced to the nearest clinic.
“We are also appealing to the authorities to bring more buses to this area and to ensure our road is periodically maintained.”
Mr Luckwell Muzori said the community was losing loved ones as some die on the way to the nearest clinic, but that would be a thing of the past on completion of the new clinic in their area.
“We are walking for long distances of up to 29km to the next clinic and some people lose their loved ones before reaching that clinic so we are happy that Government has heard our concerns and decided to build a clinic nearby.
“We are happy as a community and we are hopeful that it will be completed as soon as possible so that people can be assisted close by,” said Mr Muzori.
Another villager, who elected to be identified as Mrs Mudzviti from Chisambiro Village, said she happy that President Mnangagwa had availed devolution funds for the construction of the clinic.
“We walk for almost 29km to Kapondoro Clinic, which is very hard for us. If a relative or a family member falls sick, we have to travel all those kilometres to get assistance.
“Those with vehicles charge a lot of money to hire them, and many people are forced to walk or use scorch carts. So with the construction of this clinic near us, we thank our Government because we will access medical services nearby,” she said.
Ms Shylet Chigamba weighed in saying the Government had done a lot of good work in the community which deserved praise.
She said Mutoko District will be transformed if more clinics were constructed in other wards.
Chairman of the Chisambiro Clinic, Mr Blessing Chisambiro, said devolution funds had given them hope of a better life.
“This area is well-known for Malaria, and the construction of this clinic will bring joy to a lot of people in Ward 18 and 19.
“This gesture by the Government has come at the right time and we thank that. We are appealing for the speedy completion of construction works for our villagers to start getting assistance,” said Mr Chisambiro.
He also thanked the people of Ward 18 and 19 for working hard to ensure the clinic was constructed without seamlessly.
Mutoko RDC engineer, Reason Makore, said they were working tirelessly to have health centres that were accessible to all communities in their district.
“In this regard, Mutoko Rural District Council has embarked on a new construction project in Ward 18 Chisambiro-Kapondoro, where construction of Chisambiro clinic is almost at completion stage and communities will now be accessing the health facility.
“The clinic will be servicing all nearby communities from Mudzi and Mutoko and it will be easy for them to access health services at any particular time,” he said.
Devolution funds, he said, had helped local authorities to transform service delivery.
“Our objective is to be leaders in terms of service delivery. We will work harder to provide better welfare for the people of Mutoko since it is our responsibility. Progress has been seen at Chisambiro Clinic so far and more work is being done to reduce the duration of the project such that service will be delivered to the people of Mutoko.
“The nearest clinic in the district from Chisambiro Clinic is Kapondoro Clinic, which is almost 27km away from Chisambiro. The opening of this rural health centre will go a long way to alleviate the problems that were being experienced by this community.
“This community will have access to basic health facilities like maternity and immunisation programmes, just to mention a few.”
Online Reporter