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The ministry of local government today received a donation of vehicles procured by the African Development Bank AfDB under the Post Cyclone Idai Emergency Recovery and Resilience Project (PCIREP) .
The donation of 8 Crane Trucks and 2 Nissan NP300 Pick Up trucks is meant to enhance disaster preparedness and response in Manicaland Province as it comes barely two months after Zimbabwe received another donation of vehicles, ICT equipment, tents, and tools from the bank.
In his acceptance speech, Hon July Moyo, the Minister of Local Government and Public Works said to date, the Government with support from partners has made significant strides in restoring normalcy in the lives of the people of Chimanimani and Chipinge Districts who suffered the brunt of Tropical Cyclone Idai in March 2019.
In line with the principle of ‘Building Back Better’, the minister expressed gratitude at the resuscitation and reconstruction of key sectors of the economy which include shelter, agriculture, roads and bridges infrastructure, water, sanitation and hygiene, health, and education among other sectors.
“I am delighted that to date, the Cyclone Idai Runyararo Housing Project at West End Farm in Chimanimani has seen the construction of 120 housing units and all completed houses have been allocated to beneficiaries. The housing project provides permanent houses for 224 households and each family was allocated 6000 square metre stands for livelihoods activities. Our thrust is to establish a Smart Settlement which is well planned to include all relevant social amenities such as business centres, health facilities, and school,” Minister Moyo said.
The 2021/2022 rainfall season which was predicted to be characterized by largely normal to above normal rainfall is upon us and there is a need to heighten preparedness planning efforts in order to mitigate the impacts of disasters. The Government, with support from partners, has stepped up on preparedness and to this end, a national contingency plan for the 2021 to 2022 rainfall season is now in place.
He said the donation of 8 Crane trucks and 2 NP200 pickup trucks will go a long way in capacitating the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) to improve electricity supply in Manicaland Province as well as facilitate timeous response to incidents.
“The Government of Zimbabwe remains indebted to you our development partners for your efforts towards recovery and resilience building. It is only through concerted efforts that we will be able to realise an empowered upper-middle-income economy by 2030.
“My Ministry remains committed to ensuring that we continue to engage and collaborate our efforts for the implementation of the Post Cyclone Idai Emergency Recovery and Resilience Project (PCIREP). We commend African Development Bank for the continued dedication to seeing this project completed despite the ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic
“As I accept this donation on behalf of the Government and the people of Zimbabwe, I would like to express sincere gratitude to our partners AfDB, and UNOPS for this gesture and urge other Agencies and development partners to emulate the dedication and commitment to contribute to the attainment of our national development goals,” Minister Moyo added.
AfDB Office Country Manager – Ms Moono Mupotola, in a speech delivered virtually, said the bank’s strategy is to increase support for capacity building of African countries to tackle climate change risks
“Disaster preparedness is a key lever for the achievement of this goal. In Zimbabwe, the Post Cyclone Idai and Kenneth Emergency Recovery and Resilience Programme (PCIREP) is a demonstration of our commitment to institutional strengthening and resilience building,” Ms Mupotola said.
The project, which is managed by UNOPS with oversight by the Government of Zimbabwe; has three components. The Enhanced Agricultural Productivity and Resilience component will see the rehabilitation of damaged sections of Nyanyadzi irrigation scheme in compliance with build-back-better and resilience standards.
The Sustainable Socio-economic Infrastructure component will result in the rehabilitation of road network infrastructure and the Chimanimani and Chipinge Towns water supply and sanitation systems. There will also be the provision of equipment to electricity medium voltage distribution networks under the same component. To date, 4 000 households in the Gaza township of Chipinge have had their septic tanks desludged. The contractor for the rehabilitation of Machongwe-Rusitu Road is now on the ground to conduct the preliminary works for the design and building of that road.
The third component is on institutional strengthening. This has seen the strengthening of meteorological early warning systems and weather stations, rehabilitation of hydrological gauging stations, and capacity-building for disaster preparedness and response.
“Today, through our implementing partner UNOPS, we handover four 4×4 offroad 3-tonne Knuckle Boom Crane Trucks, four 6×4 offroad 8-tonne Knuckle Boom Crane Trucks and 2 Nissan single cab pick-up trucks for use by the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC). The total value of this consignment is US$810,170.00. This selection of these vehicles was deliberate to ensure it will be capable of ferrying the necessary loads and navigating the rugged terrain that is characteristic of Chimanimani and Chipinge districts.
“It is our hope that the provision of these vehicles will complement the efforts of the Government of Zimbabwe through ZETDC to bring convenience to the people of Zimbabwe through the provision of adequate, safe, reliable electricity and related services,” Ms Mupotola added.