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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
LUPANE Local Board which manages Lupane town in Matabeleland North has started constructing a US$300 000 civic centre expected to be completed at the end of next year.

The board resolved to construct the facility in 2018 but could not immediately start work on the project due to lack of funding.

The local authority said it is now mobilising funding from its various revenue sources such as timber logging to construct the civic centre.

Lupane town is generally lagging behind in terms of development when compared to other provincial capitals countrywide.

The civic centre will have two conference rooms, a boardroom and offices for heads of departments and key staff.

The board chairperson councillor Monica Ngwenya said construction had started.

“We have started constructing the civic centre and with funds permitting, we hope to complete the project by end of next year,” she said.

Clr Ngwenya said once completed, the civic centre will generate revenue for the Local Board as the conference rooms will be hired out for meetings.

She could not be drawn into revealing the development partners the local authority is working with.

The local authority has also set aside land for development of a shopping mall, hotel and conference centre and some lodges.

Clr Ngwenya said the board received $3,884 million from the Devolution Fund this year and is using some of the money to fund the putting up of a sewer reticulating system.

“We have other projects that we want to implement using Devolution money. We are working on our sewer infrastructure because we cannot develop without a proper sewer system. After that we need to come up with a master plan to show potential investors our roadmap.

We have set aside land for a shopping mall, hotel, conference centre and lodges,” said Clr Ngwenya. — @ncubeleon