Chronicle Editor
Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, [email protected]
MANGWE District in Matabeleland South Province expects to complete the construction of three clinics this year, which are being built using devolution funds and involvement of diasporans, community and development partners.
District Development Coordinator, Ms Rorisang Makhurane, said the construction of Makorokoro, Ngwanyana and Silima clinics will help to improve health care services in the district.
Through such projects, she said the district hopes to soon meet the recommended five kilometre radius for health facilities. The use of devolution funds for development of key infrastructure such as clinics and schools has come in handy for local authorities who previously struggled to advance development.
Last year, Mangwe District commissioned Izimnyama Clinic, which was also constructed using devolution funds having stalled for 70 years.
“We have three clinic projects, which are underway in the district and our target is to have them completed by the year end,” said Ms Makhurane.
“We hope to channel devolution funds towards the projects as they come in and we are also utilising private public partnerships where we are engaging the diasporans and other development partners in order to mobilise resources for these projects.
“We also have several schools that are under construction in the district where we have come in with devolution funds and we are implementing the private public partnerships model.”
Ms Makhurane said they have also managed to install piped water schemes in various communities through the multi stakeholder approach. Due to drought, she said the water table is now low throughout the district, making it difficult to drill boreholes.
Ms Makhurane said the piped water schemes have provided a tangible solution and efforts are underway to engage partners on construction of more.
She said the private public partnerships approach will also be used for road maintenance, adding that efforts made by local communities coupled with devolution funds and involvement of private partners will go a long way in accelerating development in the district.
The devolution funds have helped to speed up a number of community initiated projects that had stalled in the district, among them health facilities.
The same funding has also assisted local authorities in the province to fulfill their obligation of ensuring improved access to social amenities across the country through development of key infrastructure such as clinics, classroom blocks, roads, bridges and street-lighting, among other facilities.
Upgrading infrastructure is in line with the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1), a national five-year economic management masterplan, running from 2021 to 2025.
Under NDS1, the Government is focusing on building, expanding and restoring key enabler infrastructure such as roads and energy. Infrastructure development is expected to play a key role in ensuring the country attains the status of an upper middle income economy by 2030.
The devolution programme is one of the key pillars under NSD1, which is the country’s first five year medium term plan aimed at realising the country’s Vision 2030 while simultaneously addressing the global aspirations of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Africa Agenda 2063.
The overarching goal of NSD1 is to ensure high, accelerated, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, as well as socio-economic transformation and development as the country moves towards an upper middle-income society by 2030.
—@DubeMatutu
Online Reporter