adminRumbidzayi Zinyuke
Manicaland Bureau
Villagers in Nyanga North have appealed to Government to release funding to repair bridges damaged by heavy rains that have resulted in villagers failing to access essential services.
Some of the bridges were damaged as far back as 2013 while others were destroyed by the heavy rains received since December last year.
Manicaland was also hit by two tropical storms, Chalane and Eloise, within a month, resulting in destruction of infrastructure.
Nyanga North legislator Cde Chido Sanyatwe, said the above normal rainfall being received this season had brought to the fore the need to restore critical infrastructure as some communities had already been cut off, resulting in villagers risking their lives to cross flooded rivers.
She said Rwenya and Nyamatubu bridges had been destroyed by heavy rains in 2013 but have not been fixed since then.
“For years, people have been using detours they created to cross rivers. Some of the roads even passed through the river itself because it was dry since we have been experiencing droughts.
“However, some of those alternative roads have been covered as water levels rose. Besides Rwenya and Nyamatubu, we have smaller bridges that were also destroyed this year by heavy rains and villagers are failing to access hospitals and the Department of Social Welfare’s food distribution centres. We have heard that people are swimming across the rivers to get there and this is dangerous,” she said.
“We have villagers in Ward 1, Ward 2 Avilla, Ward 5, ward 9 Mabiza bridge and Ward 11 Nyakomba who have been affected. If people cannot access food aid, they will take risks by swimming across.”
Cde Sanyatwe said they were appealing to the Civil Protection Unit (CPU) to come up with ways to assist the affected villagers.
She said the damage to the 800 metre Rwenya Bridge, which connects Nyanga North in Manicaland to Mutoko in Mashonaland East, was a major drawback as it had cut off regular movement between communities on either side. Rwenya had been on the cards for years but funding had not yet been made available.
Cde Sanyatwe said she had moved a motion in Parliament for Government to prioritise the repair of such bridges as they are key to the development of Nyanga District in line with the Vision 2030.
“In 2018, engineers valued the repair of the bridge at $4million but that figure is now probably higher because of inflation. We continue to appeal to Government and private stakeholders to come in and help us to improve the lives of our people,” she added.
Ward 2 villager Mrs Florence Nyamukapa said the state of the roads and bridges were deplorable and appealed to authorities to make it easier for them to access services and not endanger their lives crossing flooded rivers.
Headman Sanyangora, Mr Taurai Dzenga said Nyanga North was rich in mineral reserves but was not benefiting much from them in terms of development.
“We have the resources but they are not benefiting us. We should not have bridges that take so long to be fixed because those who are mining should contribute towards restoring infrastructure.
“We hope these bridges will be fixed soon,” he said.
Online Reporter