Runde district lines up infrastructure projects

RUNDE Rural District Council in Zvishavane has lined up a number of infrastructural development projects in rural communities after raking in tens of thousands of dollars from the Ward Development Levy.

Council chief executive Mr Gorden Moyo said they had managed to significantly boost their coffers using proceeds from the Ward Development Levy.

He said several infrastructural development projects would soon be rolled out to improve the living standards of communities in Runde.

The development levy is pegged at $2 per homestead annually and some villagers are actually calling for its increase to raise enough funds to complete outstanding infrastructural projects.

Mr Moyo said there were plans to build community halls in every ward in Runde, while part of the levy was earmarked to complete Gundekunde Primary School in the district.

“Proceeds from development levy have been helpful for all council projects in each of the 19 wards under Runde,” he said. “We consult the local community first before embarking on a project and the list of priorities differs from one community to another.

“We always make it clear to the communities that the type of projects that we embark on will always be dependent on the amount of money they would have contributed through the levy.’’

Mr Moyo said while some wards opted to pay more for their levy, the minimum acceptable figure was $2.

He said his council chipped in financially and materially to help communities complete some of their projects, particularly schools. Mr Moyo said all the wards in the district had received a $5 000 shot in the arm each from funds availed under the Zvishavane Community Share Ownership Trust.