Chronicle Editor
Rutendo Nyeve, Sunday News Reporter
COMMUNITIES in Umguza district in Matabeleland North Province have witnessed improved access to water and sanitation services following the drilling of more than 130 boreholes courtesy of the Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC) Zimbabwe-funded Community Share Ownership Scheme (CSOS).
The scheme has also constructed an Early Child Development (ECD) block at Madluntsha in Ward 3 that is set to provide the young learners with the comfort they require while further infrastructure and community development is expected to be rolled out this year with PPC Zimbabwe allocating US$190 000 towards the trust in 2024.
Last year the company injected more than US$300 000 towards three community share ownership trusts in Gwanda, Shamva and Umguza. In an interview with Sunday News, Umguza Community Share Ownership Trust chairman, Chief Ndondo of Mbembesi said the trust drilled more than 130 boreholes across the district, a number which he said surpassed their initial target.
“We have been able to improve the communities’ access to water through drilling of boreholes courtesy of funding from PPC Zimbabwe. Our target was to drill five boreholes per ward but we have surpassed that target in all the 19 wards. Last year we commenced the construction of an ECD block at Madluntsha in Ward 3.
This year the company allocated us US$190 000 and we are yet to convene as a trust and identify vulnerable communities to see how best we can assist. We will then table the projects to PPC to map a way forward,” said Chief Ndondo.
In a separate interview, PPC Zimbabwe Managing Director Mr Albert Sigei said they continuously strive to deliver on their purpose of empowering people to experience a better quality of life.
He said they have been playing an active social role in uplifting the lives of communities in the areas which they operate in order to create a shared value for all.
“Our aim is to deliver on sustainable initiatives in the areas of education, enterprise development, infrastructure development and environmental protection. In line with this, working with community leaders, PPC Zimbabwe has committed to fund selected community development programmes in Matabeleland South, Matabeleland North, Shamva South and other areas for the benefit of local communities.
We are excited about the incredible potential that these community programmes will have in uplifting these communities.
We can confirm that for the six months ended September 2023, the company spent over US$300 000 on approved Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes. There are other CSR programmes planned for the year, which will be financed by the company,” said Mr Sigei.
He said broadly, their projects were anchored around infrastructure development, community engagement and development through support.
“These are sort of pillars that guide our operations wherever we go. We link up with the community and identify their needs then work on a programme on how we can support them because we cannot do everything at once.
“In Matabeleland South and North there are two community development trusts that we fund. We work with community leaders to identify the needs but they have to be aligned to our strategic intent then we fund those on an annual basis.
There is a commitment from PPC in that particular respect that we have signed with those communities.
In Shamva it’s more or less the same, we do operate a limestone quarry mine there and we use the same approach where we have identified community development projects,” said Mr Sigei.
The CSOS is a Government initiative under the indigenisation programme aimed at ensuring that communities have shares in companies that exploit natural resources in their areas and use the proceeds from the shares to fund development projects in those areas. The programme has been a real game changer and is transforming lives across the country where it has been launched. -@nyeve14
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