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44th Cabinet Meeting Decisions Matrix: 10th December, 2019
1. Local production of number plates as an import substitution strategy
Following a presentation by the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development on the need to produce number plates locally as an import substitution strategy, Cabinet tasked local innovation hubs to come up with a patent for the local production of number plates with the requisite security features.
Cabinet is confident the move to produce number plates locally will ease the current shortages being experienced in the country due to the limited availability of foreign currency.
The local production of new number plates will also increase the utilisation of the country’s resources, including local scientists, and create employment for citizens.

2. The country’s power and fuel supply situation
Following an update report by the Minister of Energy and Power Development on the country’s power and fuel supply situation, Cabinet noted with concern that although the daily average diesel and petrol uplifts for the past week had increased compared to the previous week, fuel queues continue to be visible.
Consequently, Cabinet reiterated that all service stations caught engaging in illegal activities be identified and perpetrators brought to book through fines and, where appropriate, withdrawal of operating licences.

Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa addresses the media in the company of Energy and Power Development Minister Fortune Chasi at a post-Cabinet briefing in Harare yesterday. – Picture: Believe Nyakudjara

3. Update on the implementation of the 4th 100-day cycle priority projects
Cabinet received and appreciated progress reports in the implementation of the 4th 100-day cycle priority projects, which ministers presented as follows:
1. Energy and Power Development The minister informed Cabinet as follows:

• The expansion of Hwange Thermal Power Station’s units 7 and 8, which is envisaged to add 600MW to the national grid, is progressing well, with all the geotechnical investigations having been completed and design reviews, excavations and site levelling at an advanced stage. The completion of the expansion works will help ease power supply challenges currently besetting the country;
• Ninety-two out of the 2 010 transformers to be manufactured countrywide under the Transformer Manufacturing Project have been completed;
• Under the Smart Metering Project, 404 out of the targeted 2 000 smart meters configured with GSM sim cards have been installed; and
• Under the Rural Provinces Grid Extension projects, 31 of the 35 targeted institutions comprising schools and clinics have been grid electrified, with prepaid meters connected.

Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa addresses the media in the company of Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Joel Biggie Matiza (extreme left), Energy and Power Development Minister Fortune Chasi and the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Dr Misheck Sibanda (far right) at a post-Cabinet briefing in Harare yesterday. – Picture: Believe Nyakudjara

2. Transport and Infrastructural Development
The minister informed Cabinet as follows:

• Bush clearance and road formation of the 5km-stretch from Melfort to Bromely has been completed, and the road is now awaiting surfacing;
• Construction works on the Harare-Bulawayo Road bridge-over-rail in Norton have been completed, with the bridge now awaiting commissioning;
• 28,6km of the 48,2km-stretch of the Mhandamabwe-Chivi-Tugwi Road has been completed and opened to traffic;
  Approaches for three bridges ravaged by Cyclone Idai on the Wengezi-Chimanimani Road, namely: Umvumvumvu Number 2,
• 3 and 4 have been completed and opened to traffic, and
  Works on the upgrading of the 5km-stretch in Chivhu and the 3km stretch in Beatrice along the Harare- Masvingo Highway have been carried out to base two and to priming levels, respectively.

3. Environment, Tourism, Climate and Hospitality Industry Minister reported as follows:

• Under the Customer Care and Services Project, identification of institutions to undergo training and the development of customised training manuals have been completed;
• Under the Community Participation in Fisheries Programme, construction of eight ponds at designated schools and communities in Chinyika, Bonstead and Hibury in Mashonaland East Province has been completed, with the ponds now awaiting stocking;
• Identification of biogas digester sites has been competed, while construction of the same is in progress in Masvingo and Matabeleland North provinces under the Bio-degradable Solid Waste Management Project;
• An application for tender waiver for the establishment of a sawmill plant in Cashel Valley, Manicaland Province, has been
• submitted; and
• The construction of an ablution block in Hwange under the Community Participation in Tourism Conservation project in Matabeleland North Province has now been approved by the local leadership, with the Environmental Impact Assessment having been completed and the project site pegged.

4. Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development
The minister informed Cabinet as follows:

• Work on the upgrading of a Technology Centre at Harare Institute of Technology and a Common Facility Centre in Chinhoyi are at an advanced stage, with transportation of new machinery and equipment from Chitungwiza Small and Medium Enterprises Development Corporation warehouse to the two sites having been completed;
• The renovation of a one-stop centre in Rusape under the one-stop centre phase 2 project has been completed. The one-stop centre had been ravaged by fire in September 2018;
• Funding for 30 small and medium enterprises projects in Manicaland, Masvingo and Matabeleland North provinces has been secured, while monitoring of the funded projects is ongoing; and
• The disbursement of a total of ZW$480 641,64 to 14 of the 20 community-initiated projects has been effected in Manicaland, Mashonaland East and Harare provinces. The project will benefit communities in various sectors, which include horticulture, brick moulding, cattle fattening and poultry.

5. The Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation informed Cabinet as follows:

• The National Sport and Recreation Strategy has been reviewed and is set to be benchmarked with international best practices;
  The establishment of the Tabudirira Vocational Training Centre tomato processing plant in Mutoko, Mashonaland East
• Province is at 60 percent completion and on course;
• The establishment of the Youth Interact Centre in Harare Province is 85 percent complete; and
  The installation of a drip irrigation system in Masvingo is complete, and its utilisation will commence during this current agricultural season. 6. Minister of Local Government and Public Works

The minister of Local Government and Public Works reported as follows:

• Construction work at ZRP Tomlinson Depot Flats in Harare, which is meant to improve access to accommodation for ZRP staff, is progressing well;
• Upgrading of the Mabhula Sewer Treatment Plant in Zvishavane Town, Midlands, which will improve sewer treatment capacity in the town, is at 80 percent completion;
• The Magamba Extension Water Reticulation project targeting to connect a total of 1 181 properties to water supply in Rusape Town, Manicaland Province, is at 95 percent completion;
• The Tsholotsho Disaster Recovery Project in Tshiro/Sawudweni, Matabeleland North Province, is now complete, with five houses having been constructed. The project targets to rehabilitate communities affected by cyclone-induced floods in the 2016-2017 rainy season; and
• The Kamutsenzere piped water scheme being undertaken to increase access to safe water under Pfura Rural District Council in Mt Darwin, Mashonaland Central Province, is complete and 2 765 people will benefit from the project.

4. Ratification of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, East African Community-Southern African Development Community (COMESA EAC-SADC) Tripartite Free Trade Area Agreement

• Cabinet considered and approved the Ratification of the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) Agreement, which the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs presented as chairman of the Cabinet Committee on Legislation.
• The TFTA brings together combined membership of COMESA, EAC and SADC under a single free trade area, thereby addressing the challenge of multiple membership and boosting intra-regional trade and economic development among member states. The TFTA seeks to achieve the following objectives, inter-alia:
• To promote economic and social development of the Tripartite region;
• To create a large single market with free movement of goods and services in order to promote intra-regional trade; and
• To enhance the regional and continental integration processes.
• In essence, the TFTA will bring together 29 African countries with a combined current population of more than 632 million people and a combined Gross Domestic Product of US$1,3 trillion.
• The TFTA constitutes half of the African Union (AU) in terms of membership.
  Such a market naturally creates opportunities for economies of scale for producers of various goods and services in the Tripartite region.
• Zimbabwe stands to benefit immensely from membership of the TFTA.
• The country will no longer be restricted to the production of traditional goods and, instead, will become the hub for new manufacturing operations that serve wider markets. The country will substantially reduce the cost of doing business and, thereby radically transforming its industrial processes and models.

Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Dr Misheck Sibanda converses with Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Permanent Secretary Mr Nick Mangwana during a post-Cabinet briefing in Harare yesterday. – Picture: Believe Nyakudjara