News / Regional
Gwanda plans new town
12 May 2016 at 07:48hrs | Views
GWANDA municipality is embarking on an ambitious project to establish a new town with three suburbs and a Central Business District across the Mtshabezi River along the Gwanda-Maphisa road.
The council is scouting for surveyors to do the measurements and mapping of the area. Gwanda mayor Councillor Knowledge Ndlovu yesterday said the yet to be named town would be established on a farm.
"We're going to establish a mini-town across the Mtshabezi River. It'll have high, medium and low density suburbs.
"We've a farm which we've set aside for that project. Very soon surveyors will go to the area to do their work and give us the results," said Clr Ndlovu.
He said the new town would coincide with the tarring and dualisation of the Gwanda-Maphisa Road.
"The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development have assured us that they're going to construct the road very soon and also build a bigger bridge to replace a strip one which is being used at the moment," said Clr Ndlovu.
He said there are no businesses or residential stands to be affected by the construction of the road and the bridge.
The development comes after the municipality has also commissioned another suburb named Doullfontein which will be serviced soon to ease the problem of accommodation in the town.
Gwanda has been dogged by accommodation problems for a long time.
In 2007, up to 24 people were sharing a four-roomed house in some of the high density suburbs.
The opening of a nurse training school and the Joshua Mqabuko Polytechnic College have also fuelled demand for accommodation.
Four years ago, the town's housing backlog stood at 6,000 and has been constantly rising.
The council is scouting for surveyors to do the measurements and mapping of the area. Gwanda mayor Councillor Knowledge Ndlovu yesterday said the yet to be named town would be established on a farm.
"We're going to establish a mini-town across the Mtshabezi River. It'll have high, medium and low density suburbs.
"We've a farm which we've set aside for that project. Very soon surveyors will go to the area to do their work and give us the results," said Clr Ndlovu.
He said the new town would coincide with the tarring and dualisation of the Gwanda-Maphisa Road.
"The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development have assured us that they're going to construct the road very soon and also build a bigger bridge to replace a strip one which is being used at the moment," said Clr Ndlovu.
The development comes after the municipality has also commissioned another suburb named Doullfontein which will be serviced soon to ease the problem of accommodation in the town.
Gwanda has been dogged by accommodation problems for a long time.
In 2007, up to 24 people were sharing a four-roomed house in some of the high density suburbs.
The opening of a nurse training school and the Joshua Mqabuko Polytechnic College have also fuelled demand for accommodation.
Four years ago, the town's housing backlog stood at 6,000 and has been constantly rising.
Source - The Chronicle
