The ManicaPost
THE District Development Fund is mobilising funds for the rehabilitation of the country’s rural roads which are currently at their worst following heavy rains received this season, its director general, Mr James Jonga has said.
Mr Jonga said this during a familiarisation tour of DDF Manicaland projects by Minister of State for Presidential Affairs, Cde Flora Buka.
Mr Jonga said they would mobilise funds for each province’s rehabilitation programmes in the wake of inadequate finances from the fiscal allocation.
“From the 2014 budget allocation we got an allocation of $2 million and we stand to get 29 vehicles which are for DDF nationwide.
“For Manicaland alone, I know this is not enough given what you said in your district reports.
“You need $5,9 million alone to address the problem of washed away bridges, but we have $2 million to share nationwide.
“As much as we accept challenges, the reality is that we are working on a shoe-string budget from the national fiscal and we have to resort to internal resources mobilisation and also auction our obsolete equipment to raise funds to remain operational,” said Mr Jonga.
In the reports presented by all the seven districts in the province, most of them highlighted the gravity of obsolete equipment and lack of adequate tractors and motor vehicles to use for day to day operations.
Most districts also revealed that they were operating with one tractor to execute the tillage programmes, which was virtually impossible.
Cde Buka encouraged the districts to remain resolute despite the economic challenges.
She said in past years the donor community was a key partner in the operations of DDF and that must be restored.
“We might have limited resources, but the important thing is what we will do in the wake of this shortcoming.
“The economy is struggling and as DDF we are not living in our own Zimbabwe.
“In the past years the donor community used to assist a lot, so we now need to mend the partnerships as we aim to turn back DDF to what it was in the 1990s,” said Cde Buka.
She also warned corrupt officials and said there would be no leniency.
She said Zanu-PF undertook to stamp out corruption in its 2013 election manifesto and come 2018 that is what the party wants achieved.
Cde Buka said her tour was in line with the economic blueprint, Zimbabwe Agenda for Socio-Economic Transformation, so that she gets to really see the situation on the ground.
“This interaction gives us depth to the situation on the ground. It will help us as Government to make the correct interventions even within the limited resources we have.”
On the auctioning of obsolete equipment, Cde Buka said it should be hastened in order to raise more funds for mechanisation and rehabilitation programmes.
During her provincial tour, Cde Buka visited Marange where there is a current programme to repair broken down boreholes, the washed away Nyang’ombe Bridge in Nyanga and the Mutunha Irrigation Scheme in Buhera which has been lying idle for a long time.
