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Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
VICE President Kembo Mohadi has said Government is working on robust plans to capacitate provincial authorities to roll out economic devolution initiatives.
The VP said it had dawned upon Government that each province has its own strengths and weaknesses in terms of implementing the programme.
Vice President Mohadi said resources differ from province to province and it was incumbent on provincial leaders to use what is around them to grow their economies.
He made the remarks in an interview during the National Day of Clean Up in Beitbridge on Friday last week.
“We have disbursed ourselves as Government and gave resources to provinces for their devolution projects, but some of them seem to be lacking capacity in using those resources. So we are building their capacity for them to be in a position to use the funds profitably for the benefit of the provinces,” he said.
“Those are the provincial economies were are talking about. Over and above that, they need to look at roads; major and feeder. It is also important to note that among other departments, the District Development Fund (DDF) fall under the supervision of my office and we are going to be sinking more boreholes to improve access to water and promote horticulture projects. We are working hard on the ground to make devolution a success”.
He said Zimbabwe was an agro based economy and hence the need to capacitate those in that sector especially where irrigation development is concerned.
Vice President Mohadi said the country had a lot of water bodies which if put to good use may boost agriculture productivity and food security.
He said the largest number of underutilised dams were in areas around Masvingo and Matabeleland South provinces.
“We would want a situation where at some point under our administration Zimbabwe is fed from irrigation based crops and not from the rains.
“Further, we have a lot of water bodies that are feeding Bulawayo and Esigodini but are in Matabeleland South. That should be a thing of the past since we are now completing dam walls at the Gwayi Shangani project to feed Bulawayo by December.
“We hope that will release the water bodies on the south of Bulawayo to enhance irrigation development,” said the Vice President.
He said Government was working on opening up 1000 hectares of land for irrigation at Tugwi-Mukosi dam.
Online Reporter