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Conrad Mupesa Mashonaland West Bureau
THE Norton community has praised the Second Republic for availing devolution funds that have been put to use by the local council towards infrastructural development and the purchase of needed equipment for garbage collection and road repairs.
The opposition-led council was failing to bring order, and construct roads among other services, but has received a major boost from the Zanu PF-led administration which has also seen Norton acquire a fleet of road making equipment.
Service delivery and availability of state-of-the-art equipment and infrastructure, could not be done before the introduction of the funds
A resident, Mr Mufemberi Ruzvidzo said the collection of waste had improved since the purchase of the refuse compactors while the frequency of road maintenance had also improved.
Ms Shelus Mavhangira said the community said: “We are grateful that devolution funds have improved our lives. We hope that the fund is continuously disbursed.”
Residents who are the direct beneficiaries of the projects pledged to pay their bills as the council was now able to meet its required provisions.
Before its introduction, most councils across the country were failing to bankroll human-impact undertakings and the release of the funds to Norton Town Council has changed the lives of the community.
The council has also managed to acquire two refuse compactors, a grader, a pneumatic roller, an ambulance, and other service vehicles that were commissioned this year. In addition, it revamped the sewer reticulation system and constructed school blocks using the funds.
Council public relations and community participation officer, Mr Francis Kachere told The Herald that the coming in of the funds had helped the cash-strapped local authority.
“We have two major projects that have been funded by devolution and they are now functional. The development at Katanga rank which is meant to bring order to Katanga shops and all buses and commuter omnibuses are now using this facility.
“On top of that, we have used the funds to upgrade Ngoni Sewer trunk, a line that ferries sewage from high-density areas to the wastewater treatment plant.
“This has been achieved through devolution funds,” he said adding another sewer reticulation system at Calfa had been installed using devolution funding.
It has constructed a transfer station where waste is deposited during the rainy season.
The landfill is barely accessible by refuse trucks during the rainy season.
The council has also installed solar street lights along John ‘o’ grats Road and purchased a grader using the devolution funds.
“The road equipment machine that we have purchased has made it easier for us to construct surface roads. We, however, hope to procure more equipment so that we have a fully-fledged road construction department,” he added.
Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Mary Mliswa-Chikoka said her Ministry was going to oversee the implementation of devolution and other projects effectively.
“The Government is pleased with the visible projects which have an impact on the livelihoods of the people are being implemented. I urge the local authority to complete all outstanding projects,” he said.
Norton has also partnered with a local football betting company to renovate Ngoni Stadium into a state-of-the-art arena.
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