Mutasa District set to unlock economic potential
DESPITE being one of Manicaland’s rural districts, Mutasa can unlock its development potential and turn into the province’s economic hub by harnessing available opportunities to drive value chain gains, Mutasa North legislator, Honourable Obey Bvute has said.
Honourable Bvute was speaking on the sidelines of the NetOne-Albun Honde Valley Marathon held in the Eastern Highlands last week on Saturday.
He said Mutasa can hinge on its comparative and competitive advantage to pivot its growth and social transformation, anchoring on some of the key pillars in the country’s development blueprint— the National Development Strategy (NDS1).
Mutasa District is home to tourist attractions like Mutarazi Falls, among others, and its economy is agriculture-based; with tea, coffee, timber and banana plantations abundant in the district.
It also boasts water resources like Osborne, Lake Alexander, Small Bridge and Nyawamba Dams.
“Mutasa North has lots of low-hanging fruits that can be exploited to drive the constituency and district’s development. The places of interest in the area like Mutarazi Falls and the entire Eastern Highlands provide tourism opportunities.
“The district also produces bananas, yams, sugarcane, avocados and pineapples in abundance. We are glad that the establishment of a fruit processing factory at Hauna Growth Point has already gathered pace. Value addition of the produce before it is sold is crucial for economic growth,” said Honourable Bvute.
Government, through the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development and in partnership with the African Development Bank (AfDB), is setting up the fruit procesing plant in Hauna.
He said with six Independent Power Producers (IPPs) already operating in Mutasa and generating enough energy for the district’s self-sufficiency, industrialisation and modernisation is within reach.
Honourable Bvute said apart from being exploited for hydro-power generation, the district’s water resources can also be utilised for irrigation, recreation, fisheries and tourism activities.
“President Mnangagwa is championing inclusive development that leaves no one and no place behind through the devolution agenda.
“This calls for a facelift of Hauna Growth Point and the establishment a mini industry there.
“Once that happens, infrastructure development and construction of other utilities such as roads, bridges, tourism resort facilities, accommodation and social amenities will be greatly enhanced.
“The associated benefits are employment creation for the community, and the refurbishment of existing infrastructure. The employment of locals will lead to more money circulating in the area and the growth of the district, province and the country at large,” said Honourable Bvute.
He went on to say the development of the Katiyo Border Post in Honde Valley to link Zimbabwe and Mozambique must be expedited.
He said the development will bring several downstream benefits to Mutasa District as it will trigger an economic boom.
“With a border post in Mutasa District, tourists can use that as an entry or exit point into Mozambique, thereby increasing the influx of visitors.
“This can also boost potential revenue collections. Another benefit is that it will create a shorter route into the neighbouring country through the Katandika-Chimoio Link Road which is about 22km away from Mutasa’s Katiyo Rural Centre after crossing Rwera River.
“Overall, this will be good for businesses in the district as it will drastically cut their transport expenses by doing away with the Mutasa-Mutare route to Beira,” said the legislator.
He said as the legislator of Mutasa North, he remains committed to fully supporting human capital development and innovation as espoused by NDS1.
“Improving the standards of inclusive, quality and affordable education is close to my heart. With a publisher — Priority Projects — we are contributing to capacitation programmes that support the reconfiguring of the education sector through Education 5.0 through distribution of books that have comprehensive material on the new school curriculum,” said Honourable Bvute.
He added: “We also need to ensure that new schools are built in the district, while also rehabilitating the existing ones. Such robust projects will see the country developing and prospering.
“We must all draw inspiration from President Mnangagwa who says, inovakwa nevene vayo’ by supporting Government programmes as the country moves towards achieving Vision 2030 and having an empowered and prosperous upper-middle income society.”
He called on people who trace their roots to Mutasa District to be actively involved in various development-oriented initiatives that lead to the transformation and growth of the area. (HAZ)