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Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau

Beitbridge East legislator Cde Albert Nguluvhe has appealed to Central Government to disburse money to fund the completion of outstanding water and sewer infrastructure projects under the town’s transformation initiative.

He said visitors to Zimbabwe via Beitbridge Border Post got the first impression of the country in Beitbridge town.

Cde Nguluvhe said the Beitbridge border was realising a lot of revenue some of which could be used to fund the outstanding works.

The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) collects at least $600 million from commercial cargo alone at Beitbridge annually while the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (ZINARA) collects around $1 million from toll fees monthly.

Cde Nguluvhe made the remarks during a Christmas party he hosted for the elderly and people living with disabilities at Dulivhadzimu Stadium.

He said the town carried the burden of transient population and as such its resources were being overstretched.

Cde Nguluvhe said Government should therefore urgently avail funds to accelerate infrastructure development in the town.

“The water and sewer infrastructure in our town is overstretched and the local authority is cash strapped. My appeal to Government is that they should allocate a certain percentage of money collected at the border towards the town’s infrastructure development,” he said.

Cde Nguluvhe said large volumes of both vehicular and human traffic passing through the town daily  was straining resources.

He said Government should also help Beitbridge Municipality to service residential stands which have already been occupied in Kwalu suburb without sewer and water reticulation facilities.

The town council has since issued a notice of eviction against 100 families in the suburb after the Environmental Management Agency (EMA) wrote to the local authority warning about a looming health disaster.

The residents have been given up to 29 February to vacate their properties.

“I am equally concerned with the plight of the families in Kwalu 1 suburb. We are appealing to Government to assist the council to service the areas because evicting residents is not the solution,” said Cde Nguluvhe.