Chronicle Editor
Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Reporter
PLUMTREE Town Council has embarked on a road and street naming exercise in residential, industrial and commercial areas.
The local authority recently issued a notice calling on residents and other stakeholders to propose suitable names.
The deadline for the proposed names, according to the notice issued by acting town secretary Mr Thembalami Nyoni, was Friday last week and council expressed satisfaction with the high number of names submitted. Most of the proposed names are from the Kalanga community.
However, Plumtree Combined Residents and Development Association (PCRADA) have alleged that not enough consultation was done, claiming the council fast-tracked the exercise, an allegation shot down by Mr Nyoni who said all due process was followed.
Under reference; Request for proposals for Plumtree Town roads and streets names, Mr Nyoni wrote;
“Plumtree Town Council is in the process of naming all streets/roads within the town (residential, industrial and commercial areas). Residents and stakeholders are requested to submit the proposed road/street names to council or ward councillor before Friday 8 July 2022,”
Council has already set up a street naming committee that will meet today to go through the proposed names before an official announcement.
Plumtree Town Council chairperson and Ward Six councillor, Cllr Fanisani Dube expressed satisfaction with the response from the local community.
“We received a number of name proposals, a majority if not all of them are of local persons from the Kalanga community, who excelled in their various fields. A committee has already been set up and will meet on Friday (today) to go through the proposed list of names and then after that the Government shall be informed accordingly,” said Cllr Dube.
He said when merely naming a street, local authorities do not need approval from the Government unlike when renaming a street in line with the Names Alteration Act.
The evolution of Plumtree Town Council is traced back from 1897 where it started operating as a railway station.
That was the period when the railway line to Bulawayo was being constructed. Like the three other railway stations between Plumtree and Bulawayo, a tree was chosen for the name of the place.
Plumtree Town mushroomed as a semi-permanent outpost of early white settlers developing into alternative rail route of supplies between South Africa, Botswana, and Bulawayo.
Increased trade and rail activity gradually transformed what was primarily a transit port into an established community that experienced population growth, tax offices, administration structures, schools and farmers’ club.
The town board was under Bulilimamangwe district council until it was granted a town status in 2002, out of a decision by Government to split what was then considered to be a too expansive and administratively cumbersome district, into three independent administrative authorities — Bulilima Rural District Council, Mangwe Rural District Council and Plumtree Town Council.
Plumtree Town Council is the economic hub for Bulilima and Mangwe districts. While the town is expanding in terms of residential housing units there hasn’t been much development in terms of industry.
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