The Sunday News
Judith Phiri, Sunday News Reporter
THE Government through the District Development Fund (DDF) has finished construction of a $450 000 bridge along Beula Road in Matobo that links Beula Clinic and Tshelanyemba Hospital.
In an interview MP for Matobo South, Cde Soul Mahalima Ncube who also contributed resources said the bridge will solve one of the problems villagers were facing of linking the hospital to clinics.
“This bridge will make a difference in the lives of the surrounding communities who will now be able to access services in both Wards Five and Six. The ambulance was having challenges to ferry people from Beula Clinic in Ward Five to Tshelanyemba Hospital in Ward Six.
“Also the bridge comes at a time when we are just finishing the construction of Sigangatsha Clinic in Ward Six and this will facilitate easy transportation of patients from other wards. As we all know all this is being done in line with the President’s 2030 vision of a middle-income economy where we anticipate having better health standards by 2030,” said Cde Ncube.
He added that the bridge had other benefits in the areas.
“The bridge will also facilitate transport and business operations in the area and beyond. It will have an impact on businesses,” he said.
Cde Ncube said many development projects were being carried out as a way of uplifting rural communities and linking them to urban areas.
“The construction of the bridge is among the many development projects that DFF is implementing to uplift the living standards of the people in rural areas. DDF was working on a number of projects in different parts of the province and these include the construction of bridges, clinics and schools among other things. This also shows that the Government wants all rural communities to be linked to urban areas and other service centres,” said Cde Ncube.
DDF Matabeleland provincial co-ordinator Mr Moment Malandu said his department with the help of villagers undertook the job in a few weeks.
“We did mobilisation and started clearing the road for a project we started end of last year we have finished construction and we’re very much capable of fulfilling our mandate in a short space of time given all the resources,” he said.
Mr Malandu said communities were complementing Government efforts by providing free labour.
“With the help of about 76 locals, Government and the communities joined hands to address the problem of the dilapidated bridge that was resulting in people failing to cross during the rainy season to access different services such as education, health and businesses among others,” he said.
