Masvingo City unveils major infrastructure projects to drive metropolitan vision

By Staff ReporterBULAWAYO – Masvingo City Council has unveiled an ambitious infrastructure development programme featuring a new swimming pool, a maternity wing, a truck stop, a secondary school, and a 150-kilometre road rehabilitation project, as part of its drive to become a world-class metropolitan city by 2030.Speaking to Great Zimbabwe University Campus Radio at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) where the council is showcasing “Brand Masvingo”, Town Clerk Engineer Edward Mukaratirwa detailed several key projects at various stages of completion.“Currently we are constructing a swimming pool in Runyararo suburb, which will serve the greater part of our high-density suburbs including Mucheke, Runyararo and also part of Rujeko. We are almost complete with that project. The pool has been completed, and we are now working on the changing rooms and landscaping the site,” said Mukaratirwa.He went on to say a maternity wing at Runyararo Clinic was now open to the public and council was working on fully equipping the clinic“That facility is now open to the public, though we are also in the process of fully equipping it. But expecting mothers are now using that facility,” he said.He said a major truck stop was under construction along the Beitbridge-Masvingo Highway and now at 90% complete. “The changing rooms, toilets and other facilities are there. We are now finalising the landscaping. We expect that by the first week of May, trucks should be starting to park there. It will bring quite a lot of convenience and safety for the truckers,” he said.The Town Cleck said council was also set to construct a new Secondary School in Runyararo, which will be the city’s second secondary school after Rujeko Secondary.“We have already written to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education for them to approve our site. We are happy that they have promised us that within this coming week, our approval should be coming, paving the way for physical construction work to start on the ground,” said Mukaratirwa.On road rehabilitation, he revealed a major programme targeting nearly 150 kilometres of roads this year saying the machinery was already on the ground ready for work.“We have already bought the necessary equipment, a dozer, an excavator, a roller, and a grader. Three of those pieces have been delivered to Masvingo, and our operators are undergoing training as we speak. What is only outstanding is the delivery of a grader, which we are expecting in the next two weeks,”said Eng Mkaratirwa.Eng Mukaratirwa described the ZITF as a vital platform for interaction with government agencies and industry partners saying that it allows the council to resolve outstanding issues and forge new partnerships in one convenient location.“It is very important for us to be here, first for interaction. We need to interact with government agencies that assist us in our daily operations, raise issues with them, have side meetings, and get outstanding issues resolved. It’s convenient because everyone else will be here. We are also interacting with industry and potential partners in different service delivery areas,” he said.He also highlighted Masvingo’s strategic position as a key link to the country’s borders. “We are a hub in terms of connectiveness, being very strategically positioned at the centre of the major cities in this country. That makes us a major connection point to the border facilitating trade and movement of goods and people to and from South Africa and Mozambique. As such, we have a transit population of almost about 5 million people per year who pass through the city,” he said.He appealed to the Masvingo community to support the local authority by honouring bills and contributing to development and also implored them to come and advice council on their expectations rather than just complaining“We can only sustain service delivery if there are resources to support. We want our stakeholders to support us and also to come up and contribute to the development of our city,” he said.