The ManicaPost
Cletus Mushanawani
News Editor
“BUILDING back better and stronger after a natural disaster is one of the most effective ways of ending the cycle of poverty and vulnerability that can trap people and communities,” said John Roome, Senior Director, Climate Change, World Bank Group.
This dovetails well with the Second Republic’s response to natural disasters especially in Manicaland, a province which has suffered the brunt of natural calamities since the turn on the new millennium in the Year 2000.
The first major natural disaster to hit Zimbabwe was Cyclone Eline which left a trail of destruction in eastern and southern parts of the country from February 23 to 25, 2000.
As a result of the cyclone and preceding rainfall, these areas received well above normal rainfall for the period.
This resulted in extensive infrastructure damage due to heavy rainfall, strong winds and subsequent flooding.
This also weakened some of the infrastructure and in 2013, floods swept away the 206-metres long Rwenya Bridge linking Nyanga in Manicaland and Mudzi in Mashonaland East.
For close to a decade, movement of people, goods and services was affected by the damaged economic strategic bridge.
Instead of travelling for about 60km to reach the next service centre like Ruwangwe from the bridge, locals from Mudzi had to endure nightmarish and long distances via Harare or Macheke to connect to Nyanga.
Trade between the two districts was badly affected, as locals from Nyanga and Mudzi could not easily benefit from the abundant fruits, tomatoes, maize, beans and other horticulture produce produced in the two districts divided by the mighty Rwenya River.
Compounded by a poor road network, this was eating into farmers’ profits as most transporters shun the route.
Some of the produce that could have been easily transported to either side of the river ended up rotting on the roadside as the river was impassable especially during the rainy season.
Navigating through bush paths also came with serious risk as some parts of the area are still infested with landmines planted by the Rhodesian Forces during the liberation struggle in the 70s.
With each passing year, calls to repair Rwenya Bridge became deafening, with the political leadership from Nyanga and Mudzi making endless pleas to Central Government to come to the rescue of the locals.
Because of its strategic position to the economic recovery programme, Government channelled $5 billion towards its reconstruction.
The contractor, Bitumen World, raised to the occasion and completed the task with flying colours, something that earned them applauds from the Presidium.
The completion of Rwenya Bridge saw President Mnangagwa making his first visit ever to the area to commission it last week on Friday.
He also came with good news to the locals, with an undertaking to rehabilitate the Ruwangwe-Nyamapanda Border Road, popularly known as Bhinya Road because of its poor state.
Once completed, the route will become the shortest route to reach Tete Province in Mozambique from Manicaland.
This will also boost socio-economic activities in the area as transport flows will increase.
“It is my first time to visit this area. I want to thank the reconstruction of this bridge that has resulted in me coming here. Each time I visited Mashonaland East, the Minister of State for this province, Minister, Apollonia Munzverengwi would raise the issue of the reconstruction of Rwenya Bridge. I realised that the only answer to her pleas was to reconstruct the bridge. We are happy that the reconstruction work has been completed.
“We have short-listed five companies that will be responsible for all infrastructure construction work in the country. In the past, we would hire the services of foreign companies to work on infrastructure developments through tenders. We said we should utilise our local companies and resources to construct our infrastructure.
“We also empowered them to perfect their work with each project, but today, we have realised that the five companies are now doing splendid work. They should be hailed for the excellent work they are doing,” said President Mnangagwa.
He said it is the Second Republic’s desire to see a more modernised Zimbabwe, compared to 1980 when the country attained its independence from the Rhodesians.
“Our desire is to leave this country with far much better infrastructure from what we inherited from our former colonisers. You should not only look at us as the leadership to ensure development in the country.
“It is everyone’s responsibility to put our shoulders on the wheels to ensure a developed and modernised Zimbabwe as nyika inovakwa nevene vayo. Vene vayo ndimi, vagari venyika ino, uye zvizvarwa zvenyika ino. You should all contribute to come up with world-class infrastructure in our respective areas. This bridge which links Nyanga and Mudzi belongs to all Zimbabweans,” said President Mnangagwa.
Defence and War Veterans Affairs Minister, Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, hailed President Mnangagwa and the Second Republic for walking the talk in adopting the build-back-better approach in all reconstruction work.
“We want to thank President Mnangagwa and the Second Republic for rolling out the build-back-better concept in all projects being embarked on. We saw the massive refurbishment work that was done in Chimanimani after Cyclone Idai.
‘‘When the Second Republic came into office, it prioritised the reconstruction of Rwenya Bridge. In no time, the project was completed and the locals and Zimbabweans at large stand to benefit.
“Because of the re-opening of this bridge, the distance to Nyamapanda from Nyanga will be significantly reduced. This will also help in improving the two provinces’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Nyanga boasts of timber and fruit estates and is also home to seed potato and Tabasco chillies. Farmers and businesses will use this route to take their produce and products to new markets here in Zimbabwe and Tete Province of Mozambique.
“We also want to thank Government for its undertaking to refurbish the Nyamapanda-Ruwangwe Road which is in a very bad state. This road is an economic enabler for Manicaland and Mashonaland East. If trade is enhanced, livelihoods will definitely improve. The area around Rwenya River is also endowed with gold and with infrastructure like roads, more investors will come and board, hence more employment opportunities for the locals,” said Minister Muchinguri-Kashiri.
Acting Chief Saunyama also commended Government for the massive road infrastructure developments.
He said people in Nyanga and Mudzi were having challenges to visit each other after the sweeping away of the bridge in 2013.
“It was difficult to visit our relatives in Mudzi and Mutoko from Nyanga especially when the river was flooded. I want to thank President Mnangagwa and Government for coming to our rescue through this development. We will be now able to conduct all economic activities, access social services and visit our relatives from either side of the bridge. This is commendable,” said acting Chief Saunyama.
A local, Ms Sarah Katerere: “We are very excited that the bridge is now open. We hope Government will refurbish the road in the immediate future.
‘‘We are having serious transport challenges here. Most public transporters are shunning this route because of the poor roads. We are now relying on motorbikes as a means of transport. It is a major challenge when you want to transport bulky goods or construction material.
“We are very productive here and with a good road network, we will scale-up our production levels. We are prepared to flood the market with our produce. We want to sure everyone that we will meet part of our bargain in helping the country to attain Vision 2030.”
