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Heather Charema in Chegutu
Chegutu Rural District Council has received road construction equipment and a fully-equipped ambulance from the Zimplats Mhondoro-Ngezi-Chegutu-Zvimba Community Share Ownership Trust which will improve service delivery in the district.

The rural district council has 1053km of road and 90 percent of it is gravel. Most of the gravel roads are in bad shape, resulting in difficulties in accessing health facilities.

Speaking at the handover ceremony at Mubaira Growth Point on Tuesday, Mashonaland West Provincial Affairs Minister Mary Mliswa-Chikoka (pictured) urged mining companies and artisanal miners in the district to give back to their communities.
“I am impressed with what Zimplats is doing, they heard the cries of the community and managed to come up with this donation in just 12 months. This is such a good gesture which should be appreciated by all of us.

“We have mining companies like Golden Valley, Venice, Karo, Afro-chine among others. I call upon them to emulate what Zimplats is doing. We can change people’s lives, let us work together in transforming our communities and bring forth development.”

“Artisanal miners should also come up with co-operatives and develop their communities through road construction and any other development that you may see fit,” she said.

She commended Zimplats for considering road construction equipment for Mhondoro Mubaira saying it would boost investor confidence.

“Zimplats has also donated a tractor and a grader, this will bring forth development in Mhondoro-Mubaira. Accessibility is key to economic development and will boost investor confidence in Mhondoro-Mubaira.”

Zimplats head of corporate affairs Mrs Busi Chindove said there was a lot of work to be done in the district.
“We have realised that there is a lot of work to be done in the community, we may not be able to do everything at once but we will try to finish a few projects at a time.

“We do this in appreciation of the social license to operate that you have granted us. For us to mine in your community it is because you granted us permission,” she said.

Chegutu RDC acting chief executive Mr Admire Machingura said the road equipment and ambulance would go a long way in assisting the community.

“We are humbled by this gesture, we do have some hard to reach areas especially where people were resettled during the land reform programme where we don’t have clinics. “People there walk for more than 15km to the clinic but because we do not want to lose a generation we have been sending a team to immunise children against killer diseases in those areas.”

“We also have Government initiated programmed where we have mass immunisation programmes thus the ambulance will go a long way in helping the community. It will be moving from one station to the other,” he said.