Online Reporter
Raymond Jaravaza, Zimpapers Reporter
THE provision of water and sewer reticulation services remains a key area of concern for Shurugwi residents as the population of the small mining town continues to grow.
Addressing these gaps has been mainstreamed into the strategic plan for the Shurugwi Town Council, which has moved in to align its priorities with the Government’s blue-print.
Town Council secretary, Mr Archibald Ncube, in an interview with Zimpapers on the sidelines of a five-year strategic planning meeting held recently at a Bulawayo hotel said council management and staff met to map out a five-year master plan that will drive the town’s economic growth and service delivery from 2026 to 2030.
He said the population of Shurugwi is expected to exceed 30 000 by 2030 and the water provision is a priority area that residents want addressed.
“Our five-year strategic plan is driven by the needs of our residents and stakeholders whom we had several meetings with prior to coming to Bulawayo for this meeting that will come up with a document detailing how the council will operate for the next five years,” said Mr Ncube.
“One of the priority concerns by the residents of Shurugwi is the provision of water. The population of Shurugwi is increasingly growing and that means council must provide more water to residents than we previously did in the last few years.
“Our water infrastructure is ageing so there is need to rehabilitate and upgrade water pumping systems to avail more water to the residents,” he added.
“As a town council, we are coming from the successes of NDS1 (National Development Strategy 1) and now crossing over into NDS2, which will be our guiding light as we come up with a strategic plan that will run from 2026 to 2030.
“The last population census of 2022 put the number of residents of Shurugwi at 22 000 and in the next five years we estimate the population to be over 30 000 residents. So, water provision remains a key issue that residents have raised.”
The National Development Strategy 2 (NDS2) was launched by President Mnangagwa in Harare last week.
The transformative five-year plan seeks to accelerate Zimbabwe’s march toward “a prosperous and empowered upper middle-income society.”
“There is also the issue of urban renewal that speaks to addressing ageing buildings for businesses and small to medium enterprises. It’s important that council supports SMEs by making sure they operate in a conducive environment that is supported by the right infrastructure,” he said.
Due to land constraints, council is urging businesses to construct high rise building.
“Shurugwi is a small town that does not have much land and our master plan dictates that the town expands by a radius of five kilometres to cope with demand for land for small businesses, housing and social services.
“We are, however, advocating for businesses and residents to build high rise buildings to conserve the limited land that we have,” said Mr Ncube.
Council also plans to buy equipment for road construction and upgrades.
“As a local authority, it’s also imperative that we purchase equipment for the construction of roads. Our equipment is now dilapidated and our strategic plan will address such issues.
“The delivery of health services is also another critical aspect that our five year strategic plan will be addressing as some of our clinics must have maternity wings,” said Mr Ncube.
Bongani Ndlovu