Online Reporter
Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
THE introduction and disbursement of devolution funds by the Government to local authorities from the year 2019 has helped bridge a service delivery gap at Beitbridge Rural District Council.
Prior to that, the local authority, which has 15 administrative wards, struggled to deliver people-centred services due to funding limitations.
Using devolution funds, the council has managed to drive infrastructure growth in the last five years by building more schools, clinics, repairing damaged public infrastructure and procuring service vehicles.
In a speech read on his behalf by engineer Latani Singo, acting chief executive officer Mr. Peter Ncube, said the local authority’s operations have greatly improved.
He was speaking during a recent stakeholders’ interactive meeting with Matabeleland South Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Cde Albert Nguluvhe, in Beitbridge.
“The fund improved infrastructure development and service delivery to the district. Things started changing for the better around 2019 when the New Dispensation started consistently releasing funds to boost the local authorities’ capacity to meet service delivery obligations,” said Mr. Ncube.
“So far, we have managed to build a new primary school in the Novhe area, ward 10, which has two classroom blocks, two staff houses and is equipped with a borehole.
“We have also completed building a new clinic at Dumba area, which will open doors soon after the Ministry of Health and Child Care completes its inspection.”
Other completed projects include the construction of two staff houses at Tshabili Clinic, the conversion of a farm house in Mazunga into a clinic in ward 14 resettlement area, repairs to classrooms blocks, which had been affected by climate related disasters at Chabeta Primary, Maphani Primary and Tshituripasi Primary schools.
Mr Ncube said they managed to repair the roof at Shashe Clinic in ward 8, and rehabilitated another classroom block at Mpande Primary School as well as purchasing plant equipment including a front end loader, council supervision vehicle, computers and software.
“We have pending projects, which have already taken off through the support of devolution funds and these include the construction of Malibeng cattle sales, Sentinel and Dite roads rehabilitation, Zezani Clinic staff house repairs, and the construction of a classroom block at Mthangamutshena, which is now 80 percent complete,” he said.
“We have supplied building material to the construction of a classroom block at Tshaswingo Primary School.”
Mr. Ncube said the local authority continues to implement the road rehabilitation project through funding from Zimbabwe National Road Administration and maintains 300km of rural road network annually since its inception.
For this year, Mr. Ncube said they received ZWG1,7 million and that already they are working on roads in Beitbridge East including the Tshaswingo to Lukange one.
He said the local authority was having challenges with earth moving equipment considering that outsourcing had proved to be expensive considering their limited revenue inflows.
“In some instances contractors prefer payments in USD hence we often get prices at inflated rates. Our appeal to minister (Nguluvhe) is for the building of our capacity in terms of procuring our own equipment to construct and maintain roads,” said Mr Ncube.
“We are lobbying for the surfacing of three major roads in our area, which are Lutumba to Tshikwalakwala, Beitbridge to Nhwali and Jopembe to Nhwali roads.
“In addition, we need funds to build/repair Tshikwalakwala Bridge, which links Beitbridge and Chiredzi districts, the Siyoka Bridge connecting Makhado and Zezani area and Mutshilashokwe Bridge construction.”
Mr. Ncube said should more devolution funds become available they were planning to construct more bridges to improve their road network.
In some areas, communities would be cut off from the town and other key facilities during the rainy season as a result of broken bridges.
He said works were underway on projects such as the building of Kayanse Primary School, the construction of accommodation for maternal health-related services at Mtetengwe Clinic in Ward 7 and the building of a classroom block at Mthangamutshena Secondary School with the support of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).
“These projects are at different construction stages and we look forward to continued funding for such critical projects,” said Mr. Ncube.
@tupeyo
