Story Gay Matambo
CHIREDZI residents have praised the Second Republic for championing an inclusive development agenda, which has seen numerous transformative initiatives being rolled out under the Presidential Rural Development Programme.
Erratic water supplies had been the order of the day in Chiredzi for many years, heightening fears of a cholera outbreak in the town of nearly 40 thousand people.
Water scarcity in the small town saw residents relying on unsafe water sources and compelling them to queue for hours to fetch water from safer sources.
However, the script has changed for the better after the Presidential Rural Development Programme saw six boreholes being drilled in the town in line with the Second Republic’s mantra of leaving no one and no place behind in national development.
“This programme has changed our lives for the better in this whole area since we had no running water for a year now. I don’t remember which date we last had running water on our taps. We thank the President for remembering us,” one of the residents who spoke to this news crew noted.
“As residents in Chiredzi town, we are pleased with President Mnangagwa’s development programmes that ensure that no place and no one should be left behind. We were struggling to get water, but what I’m most grateful for is that government did not target rural communities only under the programme, as you can see, we have also benefitted,” a pleased resident stated.
“We used to fetch water at a borehole in the Vhurumuku area, even school children as well used to go there. Sometimes we used to beg for water from people who had water coming out from their taps. It was very tough,” another resident said.
“We thank the government for rolling out this programme here in Ward 7. More than 1000 people were affected by this water crisis in this ward. Ever since there was an extension of this ward to ward 8, popularly known as the Miye area, we never had running water. For the past five years now, we have no running water hence we are grateful to the government for drilling boreholes for us,” a relieved resident appraised.
While a young Chiredzi town resident added, “As young women, we were the most affected by this water crisis in our ward because we used to fetch water almost 20 kilometres from here. That meant that we had to wake up around 3am to go and fetch water so that we prepare for the school children. We are very happy with this borehole which was drilled in our area.”
Under the current phase of the Presidential Rural Development Programme, the government through the Zimbabwe National Water Authority intends to sink and equip 5 boreholes per constituency in Chiredzi District.
“Under the Presidential Rural Development Programme, the target is to drill 20 boreholes in the current phase which is targeting 5 boreholes per constituency,” asserted ZINWA Corporate Communications and Marketing Manager, Mrs Marjorie Munyonga.
The Presidential Rural Development Programme is part of the rural economies’ transformation drive, anchored on the provision of water as a right and an economic enabler.
