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Thupeyo Muleya
Beitbridge Bureau
COMMUNITIES in Beitbridge have lauded the Second Republic for its accelerated rural electrification programme which has seen one clinic, four schools and two business centres being connected to the national electricity grid.
The project being implemented by the Rural Electrification Agency saw US$404 000 being committed on the electrification of Dendele, Madali, Whunga primary schools, Malikuwa Secondary School, Whunga Clinic, Dombolidenje Business Centre and Dendele Business Centres.
So far, the agency has completed 182 public projects in Beitbridge since its inception in 2005.
Among these were bio-digesters, solar plants connected mostly to schools, business centres, clinics and government sub-offices.
Prior to the latest development, the area under Ward 10 of Beitbridge district had been without electricity.
Another solar project is under construction in the Tshituripasi area in Ward 1.
“This is a good development for us. It is in line with the ongoing rural transformation programme that is being rolled out by our government,” said Ward 10 Councillor, Mr Edward Ndlovu.
“Now that there is electricity in schools, this will improve service delivery in the education sector here considering that the setting up of science laboratories had become an elusive dream.
“In addition, small to medium projects, especially those relying on electricity will be able to function properly and grow in numbers at the business centres which have been electrified.”
Mr Isaac Muleya from Dendele area said he was impressed at the rate at which the electrification project had been implemented.
He said some villagers were expecting to use the electricity to carry out small horticulture projects to improve their income at the household level.
The connection of schools to electricity, he said will gradually contribute to increased pass rates as the morale of both teachers and pupils was likely to change.
“We appreciate, this gesture. The government has responded to our continued plea for the connection to the national electricity grid,” said Mr Muleya.
Mr Funny Thavhana said the issues of school drop outs will decrease since a school with electricity was child friendly.
The community was now focusing on mobilising computers and related resources to promote the teaching of science subjects in Ward 10.
Mrs Elizabeth Dube said she was happy that the girl child in the area now had an opportunity to learn computer related subjects and acquire basic skills due to the availability of electricity.
“This is a great opportunity for our children to widen their choice of professions and learning subjects. You will note that before this development, our children were focusing more on social subjects a disadvantage if we are to compare with the state of affairs in urban settlements,” she said.
A pupil from Malikuwa Secondary School, Owami Dhlomo, said they were looking forward to improved studies, including the use of the study rooms at night.
He said the availability of power supply will also help those wishing to go to night school.
“As a student who has an interest in science related subjects, I am happy that we will be having a laboratory here to pursue our dreams. This has been difficulty to establish due to the unavailability of power,” said another pupil, Gladys Mokeona.
Speaking during the commissioning of the project on Thursday, the Minister of Energy and Power Development, Zhemu Soda said the initiative had been carried out in line with the National Energy Policy (NEP) that was launched in October 2012.
He said as at March 31 this year, the government, through REA, had electrified 10 168 rural institutions countrywide, using both grid and solar technologies.
The Minister said in Matabeleland South alone, they had electrified 1 000 institutions with 182 falling under Beitbridge.
“These include, 50 primary schools out of 70, 16 secondary schools out of 18, 28 rural health centres versus a target of 30, two chiefs’ homesteads, 17 government extension offices, 21 business centres, four small farms, 24 villages group schemes and 20 others,” said Minister Soda.
“To the community, which include schools, clinics, business centres and rural households and the farming community, I say take advantage of this infrastructure and use it to the maximum in order to uplift your standard of living and to raise the standard of education and health in your schools and health facilities, and to increase productivity on your farms and commercial ventures.”
Online Reporter