adminFrom George Maponga in MASVINGO
The business community in Masvingo has implored Government to institute contingency measures aimed at reviving the city’s dormant industrial base and spearhead economic development in one of Zimbabwe’s poorest provinces.The call was made Friday during a round-table discussion between the Masvingo business community and newly-appointed Cabinet ministers and deputies led by Energy and Power Development Minister Cde Dzikamai Mavhaire.
The business leaders said top on the new Government’s priority list should be revival of the Cold Storage Company plant in the city’s industrial area that has been mothballed for over 10 years.
The CSC plant was arguably one of the biggest employers in the city with thousands of workers on its payroll at its peak when an average of 400 cattle were slaughtered each day. In his address during the meeting, Minister Mavhaire appealed for unity of purpose across the province to engender socio-economic development.
“We need to work together as one people in the province if we are to achieve our targets in the socio-economic sphere. Masvingo has a lot of challenges in terms of development but those challenges can be overcome if we pull in the same direction. The potential to move our province forward is there and we just have to work in unison,’’ said Cde Mavhaire.
Minister of State for Masvingo provincial affairs Cde Kudakwashe Bhasikiti welcomed the idea of regular interface between the province’s political leadership and business saying it was a platform for exchanging ideas on how best to tackle the numerous challenges that afflict Masvingo.
Deputy Minister of Health and Child Care Dr Paul Chimedza said Government would continue to work hard to make sure health institutions are predisposed to offer improved health services to the people.
Dr Chimedza added that construction of a new provincial hospital in Masvingo to improve the health delivery system in one of Zimbabwe’s most populous provinces should be prioritised. Masvingo housing developer Mr Wellington Mahwende said the province was endowed with vast minerals resources which, if exploited, had the capacity to improve the lives of the majority and also spur the turnaround of the economy.
The round-table meeting convener and war veteran Cde Kudakwashe Dzoro said it was important for the province’s political leadership and critical stakeholders such as the business community to regularly meet to share notes on key issues that affect the province. Cde Dzoro said the meeting was also the first of a series of engagements by Zanu-PF ministers with the electorate to appreciate the challenges affecting people in their every day lives for discussion in Cabinet.
Online Reporter