Plumtree council appeals to investors

Sukulwenkosi Dube Plumtree Correspondent
Plumtree Town Council has appealed to investors to take up the vast tracts of land meant for development which has been lying idle. Speaking yesterday during a diaspora indaba for Plumtree, Bulilima and Mangwe, the chief executive officers of the three local authorities appealed to diasporians to develop their home areas.

Plumtree Town Secretary, Davis Dumezweni Luthe, said the town had ample land reserved for developmental projects.

He said the council had land reserved for shopping malls, hospitals, schools, food outlets and industrial areas.

“We need takers for a 15,000 square metre stand for shopping mall, 10,000 square metre stand for a private hospital, 40,000 square metre stand for a private school, 3,000 square metre land for a filling station and fast food kiosk.

“We also need takers for a number of industrial stands that we’ve which range from 200 square metres to 14,000 square metres,’’ said Luthe.

He said failure to take up the land was detrimental to the town’s development process.

Luthe said the town’s population had outgrown its service delivery and the residential area kept growing while the industrial area remained dormant.

He said the council housing backlog was sitting on 4,760 and the demand for housing was continuously increasing.

Luthe said locals working in neighbouring countries had to assist in building schools as existing schools could not accommodate the number of pupils.

“The schools which are in the town can’t accommodate the number of pupils. As a result we’re in the process of building a primary school and we’re appealing to locals to invest in this project because this school will assist our own children,’’ said Luthe.

He said the council had earmarked several areas as points for recreational facilities but the land did not have any takers.

Luthe said the council was unable to develop all the land which was lying idle because of financial constraints.

Also speaking at the indaba Mangwe Rural District Council CEO, Nketha Mangoye Dlamini said the district had the potential to house viable activities in mining, livestock rearing and tourism.

He said most people who were engaged in these activities did not have the capacity to engage in large scale operations.

Dlamini said a number of commercial stands takers were turning to grocery shops because of resource constraints.

Bulilima Rural District Council Chief Executive Officer, John Brown Ncube, said the majority of schools were not in a good state and called on diasporians to assist in sprucing up the infrastructure.

He also said the entire district had a poor road network.

Diasporians who attended the meeting said they had a desire to invest in their home areas but they were facing challenges in transporting their goods.

A South Africa based Bulilima man Ephraim Moyo said a lot of money was required when clearing goods at the border.

He said there was a need for the local authorities to lobby for less costly means for business people to convey their goods.