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Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau
BEITBRIDGE Rural District Council (BBRDC) is servicing stands as part of measures aimed at pacing up the urbanisation of Lutumba Growth Point.
Located some 20km north of the border town along the Beitbridge-Masvingo highway, Lutumba already has four boreholes drilled to provide clean water to the area.
Council chief executive Mr Peter Moyo yesterday said servicing the stands will ease perennial accommodation woes in Beitbridge town.
Already, roads, water and a standard landfill have been put in place.
The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) has since certified the landfill.
The area has been rapidly growing in the last decade and it services most villages in Beitbridge East Constituency.
“So far, we have drilled four boreholes to service nearly 400 housing stands and several business properties,” said Mr Moyo.
“The first batch of 400 stands were serviced between 2015 and 2019, and these have been allocated to beneficiaries while 19 commercial stands have also been availed for industrial development purposes.
“We don’t want the area to only expand in terms of housing development, but we should make sure that there is a steady growth in terms of commercial activities as well.”
On water reticulation, Mr Moyo said it was a continuous programme, adding that the area presently relies on one mechanised borehole.
Three more boreholes will be connected in line with a rise in the properties.
Mr Moyo said the waiting list for housing and commercial stands had grown to above 2 000, but explained that the cost of servicing residential stands was relatively low since most properties would be using septic tanks and water reticulated from the four boreholes.
“We have also put in place a standard dumpsite west of the business centre as part of our development initiative to upgrade the growth point into a modern peri-urban centre,” he said.
Allocation of Stands is being done in line with the Government’s housing for all scheme.
Mr Moyo said they were hopeful the growth point would be a hive of activity in a few years’ time, judging by the ongoing infrastructure development in the area.
He said the growth point had great potential to develop into a huge township due to its location along the major highway in Zimbabwe and proximity to Beitbridge Border Post.
The council has already built offices in the area, while other development agents are working on constructing more schools and health care facilities and a service station.
Online Reporter