Story by Kenia Chivuzhe
Preparations for the independence celebrations scheduled for Buhera, Manicaland Province next month are taking shape, with key infrastructure developments being worked on.
Initial works on the sports field are nearly complete, while key infrastructure such as roads are being attended to, with the sinking of boreholes also recording significant progress.
The local community is convinced that Buhera’s infrastructure will never be the same after the district was selected as this year’s national independence celebrations venue.
“Three boreholes have been sunk in the vicinity of the venue and water is now readily available. We hear that the football pitch being worked on will be a state-of-the-art facility, so our children will be able to showcase their talents. The rehabilitation of the roads is also exciting,” a resident told the ZBC News.
Another said. “We have started to see great changes here such as the availability of water in our community. The sports field construction is an exciting development with the school being able to start a gardening project as a result of availability of water.”
“The rehabilitation of this road is a welcome development as most motorists were worried by the state of the roads. Murambinda-Birchenough road was now in a bad state. We are there grateful for the plans to rehabilite the road,” another added.
ZANU PF politburo member and Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Honourable Joshua Sacco toured the independence celebrations venue this Friday and is happy with the progress.
He said, “The sports field to be used for the independence celebrations and for the soccer match between Dynamos and Highlanders being worked on. We have seen great collaboration by councils across the province who have mobilised their equipment being led by the Department of Roads. The Birchenough Bridge-Murambinda road will be graded and have spot gravelling with the road eventually being tarred in future. The tarred road linking Murambinda will be patched and rehabilitated.”
All the government departments are working together in line with the whole of government approach to speed up the preparation process.
“We are clearing and levelling land approximately 2 hectares for the purposes of the construction of the independence arena. So far we managed to cover 75 to 80 percent. Once we finish, we want the Department of Public Works and Sports and Recreation to take over. By the 13th, we would have completed our works here. We also intend to make sure that all roads leading to the venue are trafficable. So far, we have started working on major high ways including Chivhu-Nyazura and Murambinda-Birchenough roads,” Manicaland Provincial Roads Engineer Kudzai Maganga noted.
Director of Infrastructure Planning and Environmental Management in the Manicaland Minister of State‘s office, Engineer Timothy Rukuni said, “Work is going on very well. If you look at this site there is great work being done. We would like to thank all the government machinery for the collaborative works. All the government departments and local authorities in Manicaland are working together in line with the whole of government approach. We are one government and the work we are doing is exceptional as there are both private and public institutions here.”
Zimbabwe will mark Independence Day on the 18th of April under the theme, ‘Zim@44: Unity, Peace and Development Towards Vision 2030’.
