The ManicaPost
Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
GOVERNMENT has renamed West End Farm near Nhedziwa Business Centre in Chimanimani District where survivors of Cyclone Idai, who lost their homes will be resettled.
It is now called Runyararo Village.
This was announced by Local Government and Public Works Minister, Dr July Moyo during the handover ceremony of maize-meal donated by South Africa to survivors of the tropical storm.
“The decision to have this official launch of the distribution of the donated maize-meal here at Runyararo Village was deliberate. From now on this place will be called Runyararo.
“We feel the name Runyararo resonates well with the new set up where we expect to have a place of peace and consolation after what we went through during Cyclone Idai,” he said.
Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister, Senator Monica Mutsvangwa hailed the renaming of West End Farm to Runyararo, saying it is a befitting name considering the trauma that the new occupants of the place went through during and after the March 2019 Cyclone Idai.
“I heard that this place is now being renamed Runyararo. This is befitting considering the trauma that the new occupants have gone through.
“The people here survived by the sheer grace of God.
“This is a befitting name given the wounds that need to heal after the cyclone,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.
Cabinet in 2019 approved new names of roads, places and Government buildings in Harare, Bulawayo and other towns across the country, as a deliberate effort to foster unity, while reflecting on the country’s history and identity.
Apart from ensuring relevance like in the case of Runyararo, the name changes are mainly aimed at honouring the country’s national heroes, as well as nationalists from the region.
Meanwhile, beneficiaries of the new houses constructed at Runyararo Village will finally move into their new homes this month, as recovery efforts continue to get regional and international support though Government’s engagement and re-engagement policies.
By last week on Wednesday, a total of 88 houses had been completed up to roof level. The other houses are at different stages of construction.
Through the assistance of the International Organisation of Migrants (IOM), temporary fabricated dwellings have also been put in place to accommodate other beneficiaries.
Minister Moyo said: “By end of this month those willing to come can come and occupy their houses. I am informed that some of you have already been allocated the houses, therefore it is our thinking as Government that you can come and occupy your houses and ensure that when the next rain season comes most of you will be settled here.”
Initially, Government had envisaged the completion of the first 55 houses by end of last year, but the late delivery of building material from suppliers, later worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown regulations that slowed business activity around the globe, delayed the construction process.
Minister Mutsvangwa said Government’s recovery efforts after Cyclone Idai were made possible through its own budgetary commitment as well as the assistance from regional and international partners, thanks to President Mnangagwa’s engagement and re-engagement stance.
