Masvingo reaps rewards of devolution

George Maponga in MASVINGO

MASVINGO is slowly marching towards attaining its goal of becoming an industrialised metropolitan city by 2030, thanks to the devolution programme that has enabled the country’s oldest municipality to beef up its firefighting fleet and refuse collection trucks, and procure service vehicles for strategic personnel.

The city, which is home to over 100 000 residents, now boasts five fire tenders. This comes after Government facilitated delivery of three new firefighting vehicles to the local authority under the Belarus facility.

The expansion of the firefighting fleet means the local authority can now adequately deal with emergencies within its growing municipal boundaries and across the entire province, as Masvingo city is the provincial capital.

The fleet will also cater for emergencies along the upgraded Harare-Masvingo-Beitbridge Highway.

Town clerk Engineer Edward Mukaratirwa recently revealed that the ancient city was going to recruit 10 more firefighters to improve its emergency preparedness team following the procurement of new firefighters.

Masvingo also procured a refuse collection truck, bringing to five the number of such vehicles servicing the city.

Speaking during the commissioning of the new fire tenders, the refuse collection truck and five service vehicles procured by the local authority for US$2,1 million, mostly using funds from the devolution programme, Masvingo Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Ezra Chadzamira hailed the devolution initiative for facilitating localised development.

He lauded Masvingo city for effectively using devolution funds to change the face of the area.

“I want to commend Masvingo City Council for effectively using devolution funds to roll out projects that have a direct bearing on the lives of the majority of residents in this city,” he said.

“This event represents a significant milestone in the progress of Masvingo city under the visionary leadership of His Excellency, President Dr ED Mnangagwa.’’

He commended the local authority for building the Rujeko footbridge, Rujeko Secondary School, a new dumpsite at Cambria Farm, Runyararo North West Medical Centre and part of the Chitima market using devolution funds and, in the process, making sure residents accrued direct benefits from the initiative.

Masvingo mayor Councillor Aleck Tabe paid tribute to the Second Republic for expanding the devolution initiative, saying it was behind many success stories, especially in infrastructure development. He praised the beefing up of the city’s firefighting fleet, saying the development enhanced Masvingo’s capacity to handle emergencies, particularly along the Harare-Masvingo-Beitbridge Highway.