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Senior Reporter
THE impact of rural road investment does not occur in a vacuum and one needs to visit the breadth and length of Makoni Central constituency, where it brought an assortment of socio-economic benefits which form a strong base of the socio-economic transformation of the villages.
The area’s MP and Finance Minister, Cde Patrick Chinamasa, has spearheaded the construction of a 30-metre-long bridge across Nyatande River as well as the establishment of a new all-weather Murungu-Fombe road (9km), Fombe to St Barbara’s Mission and Fombe to Ringanai Primary School.
This has brought multiple socio-economic benefits to the rural areas and results in forming a strong backbone for the agro-based economy.
The quickly perceptible benefits are increased accessibility, mobility, increased productivity, saving in cost of transportation of people and material and speedier flow of commodities besides changes in the life style.
Cde Chinamasa said though the importance of the rural roads has been emphasised in various plan documents, development was being compromised by lack of Government funding.
He said the projects, worth several thousands of dollars, were funded by his family.
“We have called this bridge Chiwira because the people from Chiwira Village were isolated. The construction of this bridge now affords the opportunity for the people of Chiwira to come in contact with other groups of the society, which in turn inculcates in them a sense of being a part of national main stream in its prosperity and progress,” said Cde Chinamasa, adding that the provision of all-weather road connections in rural areas was planned for in the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset).
“These are entirely new roads. The areas were characterised by thickets. People had to use footpaths and these new roads now play a key role overcoming the isolation of the villages,” said Cde Chinamasa.
Cde Chinamasa said the impact of rural road investments does not occur in a vacuum as the geographic, climatic, social, and economic conditions determine the context within which impact takes place.
“Roads are clearly a critical enabling condition for improving living conditions in rural areas. My initial plan was to construct the bridge and then the road from Chiwira to Fombe to Ringanai Primary School, but the people of Medzani pleaded with me to include a link road to their area. I am happy to fulfil this promise,” said Cde Chinamasa.
Makoni Rural District Council Ward 21 Councillor Ceasar Chikunguru said the construction of the 30m Chiwira Bridge and the 22km link road from Chiwira to Ringanai Primary School have created accessibility to administrative and welfare services especially in times of natural calamities and for relief operations whenever needed.
“The construction started before he was even MP. It is a very important development in Ward 21 because it has united people from this area.
“They used to travel 22km from Chiwira. You could not cross the river when it was in flood. We have several cases of people who were swept away while trying to cross the flooded river,” said Clr Chikunguru.
Mrs Longina Katsaruware said the significance of the development extended beyond the issues of rural and agricultural development, and contributed to the unbundling of the concept of poverty and the corresponding processes of social and economic integration.
She said improved rural roads created the conditions for better access of people to services, and of services to the villages.
“Such improvements reduce the perception of isolation and remoteness among the poor and very poor,” she said.
Headman Nobert Chikunguru said the construction of rural road connections changes the life patterns also by bringing awareness of the modern means of living while infusing new ideas regarding the latest technological development in methods of farming, agro-industries and health care.
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