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Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday News Reporter
WITH President Mnangagwa set to commission the Cowdray Park Health Centre on Friday, strides made in the suburb by the Second Republic, including infrastructural development and the provision of basic services not seen in the suburb for the past two decades have been praised as a shining example of the servant leadership that is possible in the country’s urban areas if the ruling party is given full rein.
A fully equipped modern health centre, tarred roads and access to the internet in Cowdray Park have been taken to signal the inception of a smart city in a suburb that has often been regarded as an afterthought by its elected representatives.
The strides are made all the more remarkable by the fact that the constituency only has one representative from Zanu-PF, the ruling party, Ward 29 Councillor Kidwell Mujuru. Once upon a time, clouds of dust used to greet one as they entered Cowdray Park, with the few passable roads in the suburbs mostly poorly serviced.
In contrast, major roads in the suburb have now been tarred, with crews working around the clock as they grade the remaining ones. The cherry on top of these recent developments is set to be the commissioning of the Cowdray Park Health Centre, a 20-bed facility that is set to change the face of health service delivery in the area.
The centre is the second to be completed in an initiative by the Second Republic to build 30 22-bed clinics and five 60-bed district hospitals across the country over the next three years.
Construction of the health centres is being done by NMS Infrastructure Limited and wholly funded by the Government through the Ministry of Health and Child Care and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development. NMS is a British-owned engineering, procurement, construction and finance developer specialising in ten key projects around Africa.
In an interview with Sunday News, Clr Mujuru said the opening of the health centre came as a relief, as the people of Cowdray Park had to share a makeshift clinic despite ever increasing numbers in the suburb.
According to the 2022 Population Census preliminary results, Cowdray Park (Ward 28) with 75 070 people is the second most populous urban ward in the country after Harare’s Ward 43 (Budiriro) which has 89 287 people. Cowdray Park is also the biggest suburb in Bulawayo and has over 26 000 stands including residential, commercial, industrial and other amenities.
“The new dispensation is leaving no one and no place behind. Wonders are happening in Cowdray Park. When I first got elected as the councillor for Ward 29, which is Cowdray Park, in 2019, there was no hospital but only a clinic that was meant to cater for people that are 75 000, which I always felt was very impossible. So, I had to push the Government so that it was recognised that there is a need for a clinic. As a Government that listens to its people, the powers that be rushed and constructed a clinic around the Empompini area,” he said.
Clr Mujuru said that the refurbishment of roads in the area was a major milestone, as residents have been calling for this since the suburb was founded. When a Sunday News crew visited Cowdray Park yesterday, roads from the Caravan all the way to the clinic in Empompini had been tarred.
“After work started on the clinic, we realised that there were no passage roads extending to the Hlalani Kuhle part of Cowdray Park. Zupco had actually revoked its services and the kombis were charging people as much as a dollar per trip, citing poor roads. Zupco had withdrawn its services like I said because the drivers were telling people that the owners of the vehicles were saying the buses were in danger of being damaged by the poor roads. They said it was too great a risk to transport people to these areas because motor spares are expensive and costly to replace.
“I am happy to say that the roads are being fixed. From Caravan to Empompini, the road is now tarred, while the road from the Caravan to the clinic is now also tarred. From Caravan to Esigodweni, they are regrading currently and all this to me shows me that we have a Government for the people, by the people because residents of Cowdray Park have been crying about that for so long,” said Clr Mujuru.
When he outlined his vision of Cowdray Park as a smart city, Zanu-PF Parliamentary candidate for the area, Professor Mthuli Ncube, said a good road network was the gateway for better economic fortunes for people.
A first sign of this coming true came last week, with Simbisa Brands managing director Mr Warren Meares revealing during the official opening of the renovated Nando’s restaurant in Bulawayo Central Business District last week that the brand would open another branch in the area.
“We have a Government that prioritises the needs of the people and that is reflected in the fact that because of the strides made by our leaders, businesses are now flocking to come and invest in Cowdray Park because we now have roads, ambulances that used to avoid the suburb, citing poor roads, can now ferry people in and out. Everything is just happening in Cowdray Park and we are very grateful to Professor Mthuli Ncube, who is making things happen here. People have been struggling for the past 15 to 20 years without proper service delivery but with the entrance of one Zanu-PF councillor, taking the people’s grievances and delivery to the highest offices in the land, we have seen things finally happen in the area,” he said.
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