Work together for Vision 2030 — Minister Ndlovu

Sione Amidu, Gwanda Correspondent

THE Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution in Matabeleland South Province, Dr Evelyn Ndlovu, has implored all Government departments to work together and ensure that developmental projects initiated by the Second Republic are implemented.

Speaking during a Provincial Development Committee (PDC) meeting in Gwanda recently, Minister Ndlovu said Government departments should improve on the quality of the reports they submit to the ministry and work towards the realisation of Vision 2030.

“We are because of others, and we cannot be a Government if we are not working together as a team. There is no way we can excel as a province if ministries, departments and agencies are not playing their part, we will not be able to achieve our goal. I urge you to reform on your areas of weaknesses,” she said.

She called on the different ministries to improve on the quality of their reports saying they were not supposed to be taken as a mere ritual that had no meaning.

“These reports should not be perceived as mere rituals to meet certain demands. They are supposed to be authentically written and everything that is there should be factual. They should be like your annual and strategic plans that feeds into the National Development Strategy (NDS1), as well as our provincial economic development plans,” said Minister Ndlovu.

She also urged Government departments to be innovative in their spaces and be able to work with stakeholders to meet the development needs of the province.

“We have got a lot of mining companies that are around us that are using our roads, let us be innovative and talk to them about the status of the roads they are using and the role that they can play in the rehabilitation of these roads. We also have local authorities where each district must take the responsibility of clearing the bushes around those roads and develop their areas,” she said.

Minister Ndlovu also called on stakeholders to ensure that they proffer solutions to the local problems, hinting that it was wrong to expect all solutions to come from Harare. She said the province was among the top in environmental degradation that was caused by illegal gold panners and the solution to those issues were supposed to be local.

“Our province is among the top on issues to do with environmental degradation caused by illegal gold panners, you may be aware of the areas that have been damaged. Dubane, Kip-Kino Children’s Home, Matshetsheni turn off where we have had to set security forces to work with us to prevent this illegal mining that is going on. We must not wait for Harare to proffer solutions for us rather we need to sit down and have a home grown solution for every challenge that we face as a province. I am also aware of the shortage of Government accommodation particularly in Gwanda where there is acute shortage of houses and office accommodation. I am glad that we came up with effective recommendations to the responsible ministry, I want to believe those recommendations will be taken seriously by the ministry to address our challenges,” she said.

Minister Ndlovu applauded the Ministry of Health and Child Care and all the relevant ministries that played a part in combating the cholera scourge.

“In the month of January 2024 we had a cholera scare in Beitbridge and Gwanda districts and I am pleased we managed to suppress it. I’m glad that everyone played their part especially the Gwanda Mayor who has been pushing our people to clean the town. I call upon Gwanda and Beitbridge municipalities to work hard and make it a point that issues of the sewerage reticulation are addressed,” said Minister Ndlovu.

She emphasised on the development of irrigation schemes to alleviate food insecurity and poverty in the communities and implored with electricity supply authorities not to cut off power at irrigation schemes.

“This year appears to be very bad in terms of agriculture because the rains are scarce which means we need to strongly rely on the irrigation systems. We cannot afford to cut off power supply from irrigation schemes because without irrigation we will starve to death. We do not want the Government to direct the money that is meant for development to food security. We have to make sure that irrigation schemes are functional,” she said.