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Freedom Mupanedemo

Midlands Bureau

A town is fast sprouting in Manhize, an extension of Mvuma, with towering structures and new buildings going up as the new US$1 billion iron and steel plant under construction takes shape.

The new plant, which is set to be the biggest steel producer in southern Africa, is being developed by Dinson Iron and Steel Company (Disco), the Zimbabwean subsidiary of giant steel producer Tsingshan Holdings. 

It is expected to be complete in two years with officials saying they were still meeting deadlines.

Progress during a visit yesterday was good with the community also looking forward to more jobs being created. 

Officials said everything was going according to plan with joint network connections by two mobile network operators, Econet and NetOne, being the latest developments.

“There has been no mobile network in the area and the communities have started benefiting after Econet and NetOne shared infrastructure and connected the area. There is now smooth communication as well within the plan,” said the official.

Chief Chirumanzu said the community was very happy with the latest development after being connected to two mobile networks.

“This is a huge development that we are witnessing in our area. It comes with its benefits and here we are, our area now has sound network. We have been struggling before. 

“We have more business people opening shops here and some are inquiring about land to do business,” he said.

Mrs Melody Makuvire, a local resident, said she has two of her children now employed by the company at its construction works. 

“We are benefiting a lot here, my children are now working at the new company,” she said.

Last week, the company and Zesa Holdings signed a joint venture agreement for the construction of a 400kVA transmission power line, a main grid line, to connect Manhize to the rest of the backbone grid at Sherwood near Kwekwe. 

While Disco is building its own 500MW power station in Hwange, it needs to use the national grid to move the power to its future mills.

Currently the company employs over 300 workers with the majority of them locals.

When complete, Disco is set to create around 6 000 jobs with an annual turnover of around US$1,5 billion from the processing plant and the iron ore mine.