The Sunday News
Simba Jemwa, Sunday News Reporter
THE multi-million-dollar clinic under construction in Cowdray Park, Bulawayo will be completed by September with President Mnangagwa expected to officially hand it over to relevant health authorities.
Speaking during a tour of the sprawling suburb yesterday, Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube also revealed that construction and furnishing will cost around US$5 million.
The new Cowdray Park health facility is taking shape
The clinic is among 30 that are being constructed in partnership with a British company across the country with some provinces getting two each while others get three.
“The Second Republic is unwavering in its commitment to accelerate the provision of adequate social infrastructure for new settlements which have been established around our cities, as a result of urban expansion. That this clinic will be ready for commissioning by September is an indication of our commitment to ensuring that no community is left behind as we move towards achieving the goals set out in Vision 2030. Once it’s complete, President Mnangagwa will commission it before handing it over to relevant authorities.”
Cowdray Park Hospital construction Project Manager Mr Don Fraser (in yellow helmet) with Minister of Finance and Economic Development Prof Mthuli Ncube (with scarf) and Senator Molly Mpofu in inspecting progress on the construction of the health facility yesterday.
He also revealed that this and all other clinics being built around the country will be furnished with cutting edge equipment to ensure that all communities in the country have access to modern health machinery which will aid in lowering mortality rates.
“This and other such clinics will all be furnished with cutting edge health technology. As Government, we see no reason why communities like Cowdray Park should not have access to the best in health care. After the national census, we realised that Cowdray Park, which has the second highest population after Budiriro in Harare, is in dire need of infrastructural development.
“As such, the Second Republic is determined to ensure that it gets due Government assistance. After the clinic is complete, we will also tackle the need for a new school in Cowdray Park.
“As we speak, we will be sending planners from the Public Works Ministry to assess the needs of this and other similar communities in the country as we seek to alleviate challenges such as health facilities, water and sewer reticulation, road infrastructure among many other projects that will be attended to.”
Prof Ncube also revealed that plans were underway for the opening of hi-tech recording studio in the city to empower local artistes. He said plans to establish Silicon Bulawayo were at an advanced stage with a building in the Central Business District having already been identified.
The proposed Information Communication Technology (ICT) hub in the city centre will house software developers and programmers while also offering resources and office space to budding ICT entrepreneurs.
“We have now identified a building in the CBD which will house the ICT hub which we have named Silicon Bulawayo. We are also working on opening a modern recording studio to cater for the latent talent in the arts that Bulawayo is renowned for.
“The Second Republic has been working towards building an upper middle-income economy by 2030 and to help us achieve this, plans are at an advanced stage to establish an ICT hub in Bulawayo that we have called Silicon Bulawayo.
“Silicon Bulawayo is a hybrid project meant to capacitate youths who are either already trained in software development such as coders or programmers or those that are interested in receiving training towards working in this sector. This will help our economy through job creation and entrepreneurial development,” he said.
A truck drives past a gully that is quickly spreading into the road in Cowdray Park suburb yesterday. The damage is a result of soil erosion (Picture: Dennis Mudzamiri)
Meanwhile, Prof Ncube questioned the lack of infrastructural development in Cowdray Park despite the fact that devolution funds have been disbursed to the Bulawayo City Council from Government.
He said $42 billion had originally been set aside for devolution but was been increased by $10 billion in last week’s supplementary budget.
“I always wonder why devolution funds are not impacting Cowdray Park given that we set aside $42 billion in the budget which we have now increased by $10 billion.” -@RealSimbaJemwa
