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| New tarred road linking the main business centre at Nyika with Duma residential area |
Colleen Chitsa
BIKITA – Bikita Rural District
Council (RDC) has expressed satisfaction with the progress they made in the
implementation of the projects funded under devolution in 2020 with the
majority of projects undertaken having been completed.
The few
remaining projects which have been carried over into 2021 are over 90 percent
complete.
There
is now greater potable water provision in various wards of the district as 33
boreholes were equipped with B-Type Bush Pumps, three boreholes equipped with
solar powered systems and 40 boreholes were repaired.
Bikita
RDC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Peter Chibhi said they were happy with the
progress they made regardless of the Covid-19 national lockdown.
“We
have made remarkable strides in ensuring that the projects we undertook have
been completed or neared completion.
“Were
it not for the lockdowns which disturbed smooth flow of implementation of the
projects, we would have completed all of them as we had targeted to do all the
work in 2020 and start the new on a new page,” said Chibhi.
In
2020, Bikita RDC received $11.5 million in devolution funds.
The
Shumbaimwe Clinic project in Ward 11 which was constructed by the local
authority in partnership with Bikita Minerals and Odzi Clinic are the major
projects that have already been completed.
These
clinics target around 6 000 beneficiaries and will lessen the distance
travelled by locals to the nearest health centers as well as providing easy
access to medical supplies.
The 2.3km
of the Nyika Growth Point to Duma Residential area road was successfully
surfaced making it safe for around 10 000 targeted road users.
In the
education sector, the local authority commissioned a double block at Zindove
Primary School in Ward 2 under Chief Mabika and another at Mupakwa Primary in
Ward 13 in Mukanganwi area.
Ongoing
projects include the main buildings of Chibvure, Budzi and Mupamaonde clinics.
In
2019, the local authority won a number of accolades and awards with Chibhi
himself being named CEO of the Year for the second year running during the
Megafest Local Governance Awards held in Harare.
