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Munyaradzi Doma in Zvishavane
Zvishavane Town Council plans to attain municipality status by 2019 and has lined up several projects in the mining town to make sure the dream comes to fruition.

The local authority is confident that a lot of ground has been covered in this regard.

Zvishavane town secretary Mr Tinoda Mukutu said the 100-day quick-win projects were part of a grand plan to achieve municipality status next year.

It is believed that some of the projects will be funded through council’s internal revenue, while others will be delivered through public-private partnerships.

“Some of the projects which we have already carried out so that we can attain municipality status include construction of the state-of-the-art Mandava Stadium, which was done in partnership with Mimosa Mining Company,” said Mr Mukutu.

“We also carried a water and sewer upgrading project, which was done under the Small Town WASH programme funded by UNICEF, targeting our water treatment plant and the replacement of aged sewer reticulation infrastructure.’’

Zvishavane Council, Mr Mukutu said, was currently in the process of overhauling its road network as part of efforts to modernise the town.

“We have also been attending to our roads and storm water drains and from 2015 to date, council has managed to surface seven kilometres of town roads and this year we are planning to surface an additional six kilometres, targeting mainly our high-density areas,” he said.

“Funds for these projects will come from internal sources and Zinara allocations. Council is in the process of installing new and repairing old street lights along major highways leading into town. So far, we have covered 80 percent of the targeted works.”

Mr Mukutu said construction of a new flea market that will house 400 traders in Zvishavane town was nearing completion.

According to Mr Mukutu, the project is an indication of council’s seriousness to modernise the mining town.

“Council is also in the process of refurbishing the town’s swimming pool that will be fitted with modern technology,’’ he said.

Under the city’s envisaged plan, schools in the mining town will be expanded.

Zvishavane’s fire and emergency services, which now have modern equipment, have also been boosted and are now manned by fully trained officers.

Mr Mukutu said shortage of funds was hampering a large-scale urban expansion drive targeting infrastructure such as roads, water and sewer reticulation systems for the town to cope with an anticipated population growth.