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Leonard Ncube–Victoria Falls Reporter
KUSILE Rural District Council in Lupane has bought a tractor loader backhoe for US$87 000 using devolution funds to fix the road network in the district under the emergency road rehabilitation programme.
The council will also be using the versatile vehicle for construction work as it plans to build more schools and clinics, the routine work of digging trenches, storm drains, and the abstraction of sand for its building work.
Now on order are a tipper truck and two tractors using the devolution funds, enabling the council to be properly equipped to perform development work.
Kusile was allocated $149 658 540 for this year, and has so far received $16 million.
Council CEO Mr Christopher Chuma said once the council decided on the tractor loader backhoe as the first essential and floated the tender, the Government paid the supplier directly, adding that the equipment will go a long way in improving service delivery.
The tipper truck and tractors will be bought with some of the next devolution allocations.
Kusile RDC administers rural Lupane while the Lupane Local Board manages the urban area, which is the Matabeleland North provincial capital and a university town.
The urban area is now accelerating from being a small commercial centre as it turns itself into the main centre between Bulawayo and Hwange.
Mr Chuma said the tractor loader backhoe will “improve service delivery as it will be easier to do jobs”.
It has a front-end loader and digger and can do trenches or scoop mud from dams.
“We have ordered a tipper truck and two tractors using the devolution funds and we hope this will boost people’s confidence in the local authority because as a council, we haven’t bought any personal vehicles, but have used our revenue for service delivery,” said Mr Chuma.
Kusile is contending with serious sand poaching due to the bconstruction boom ushered in by the rapid growth of Lupane town. Using its new equipment, the rural district council reckons it can extract the sand without damaging the environment and earn revenue in the process.
He added that many roads in the district had been damaged by trucks carrying sand from Tshangani River, and if council collects the sand on its own and sells it to residents, the local authority will save the road network.
The council is also constructing a number of schools and clinics in partnership with some organisations.
There are also plans to invest in solar powered boreholes in communities.
“As long as we get devolution funds, we will be able to deliver,” added Mr Chuma.
Online Reporter