The Sunday News
Eddious Masundire Shumba and Kingstone Kwembeya
When Zimbabwe got its Independendence in 1980 we saw the introduction of many growth points in almost all provinces of the country and that was a very good decision since those centres would be expected to develop into major urban centres which would also offer services to the nearest rural communities at very affordable rates.
Large or big chain supermarkets were also expected to open in these growth points selling their goods at low prices and this includes commercial banks as well as building societies but surprisingly most of these growth points have totally failed to grow and most businesses have since deserted them and they are now just like ghost towns with totally no activity.
Out of these growth points only Gokwe was given town status and many companies have gone to open their businesses there. The rest of them are still at the same position they had when they were established.
Some councils complained that the responsible ministry has failed to come up with a budget to upgrade these centres. One of these growth points which is lagging behind in terms of development is Matanga Growth Point in Mberengwa.
There is totally nothing to talk about in this district where many business people have dumped it and chose to start their businesses at Mberengwa centre which is too close to Zvishavane. Many shops have been opened at mberengwa turn off, converting a very terrifying bush into a big town only because people don’t want to go to Matanga Growth point because of many reasons.
The road to Matanga is very bad and transport network is very poor and many buses have been removed from the routes.
Since the bus owners complained that the roads were demanding their vehicles, others also complained that there was no adequate water and electricity supplies and no meaningful business can operate without these two.
There are many of these growth points country wide which are supposed to be big cities by now due to their good locations but that is not happening.
We have Ingwizi in Matabeleland South Province, Mupandawana in Gutu, Masvingo, Binga and many others but these areas have been neglected for years now and we are appealing to the Government through the Ministry of Local Government to upgrade these areas.
