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Walter Nyamukondiwa
Kariba Bureau
Government is walking the talk on equitable development through initiating and resumption of decades-long mothballed, underfunded or unfunded projects, including the Siakobvu Composite Government Complex in Kariba district.

The complex was abandoned in 2004 owing to funding constraints with mobilised materials being affected by the vagaries of weather, vandalism and theft.

When the contractor moved offsite, 18 years ago, only foundations, footings and concrete slab had been done on one of the blocks.

With the coming in of the Second Republic, work resumed in June 2021 and one of the three office blocks now nears completion.

Each block has the capacity to house 45 offices.

All the blocks are expected to be completed by mid-2023.

At least ZWL$235 million has been disbursed so far by Treasury to bring Government services closer to the people.

Some people travel at least 400 kilometres to Kariba district offices.

Speaking during a tour of the project, Minister of State in the President’s Office in-charge of Implementation and Monitoring Jorum Gumbo said Government was doing everything in its power to promote balanced development.

Minister Gumbo said there was need to ensure that rural development mirrored developments in urban areas.

“It is for this reason that under the auspices of NDS1 Government is championing infrastructure development as a key enabler of economic growth,” he said.

“The expectation of citizen is that public servants would provide services in reasonable time and in a professional manner. The glaring assumption is that public servants are provided with the requisite infrastructure to enable the effective execution of their various mandates.”

It was regrettable, he said, that Nyaminyami district had been lagging behind in terms of development as there were no Government departments permanently stationed in the district.

Ministries and departments had to go for outreach programmes from Kariba urban giving communities in the area limited access to essential services such as civic registration.

Minister Gumbo commended Government for committing resources to ensure the project materialized as the Siakobvu complex would alleviate institutional accommodation challenges.

Once completed, the complex would provide improved access to government services under one roof. The development is expected to dovetail with Government’s drive to decentralise services under the devolution programme.

In a bid to ensure as much ground is covered, Government was implementing an elaborate plan that sets timelines for every project’s completion through 100-day cycles. The plans drive towards realisation of an Upper-middle Income Economy by 2030. The Second Republic has managed to resume several projects that had been left unfinished and derelict for decades including the Chinhoyi Courts in Mashonaland West province.

Mashonaland West provincial public works director engineer Trust Mutizwa said work was progressing smoothly and everything was on course to meet set deadlines. Brickwork and concreting for the structure and superstructure has been completed while internal and external plastering, electrical tubing and procurement of all plumbing materials is underway.

The District Development Fund is now expected to drill boreholes as siting and procurement of accessories has already been done.

Outstanding works include roofing, tiling, dry wall partitioning, suspended ceiling, painting and glazing, lighting, civil works, car parks and access roads.

The project has seen people from areas such as Mola, Nengande, Musambakaruma and Nebiri being employed.

Nyaminyami RDC chairperson Golden chirongoma said there was need to expedite construction of the Karoi-Binga Road with suggestion that work should start from Siakobvu to Sanyati River Bridge.

“We welcome construction of the government complex and the services that will come to our area,” said Cllr Chirongoma.

“Our challenges at the moment include a poor road network. We welcome that the Karoi-Binga Road is being attended to. However, the stretch from Siakobvu going towards Karoi up to Sanyati River Bridge is the worst and at a pace of 10km per year, it would take us years to have a good road.