Figtree to be turned into a town

GOVERNMENT has set in motion the smart city concept that will see the development of Figtree as a tributary town to Bulawayo, as efforts to ease congestion in major cities gathers pace.

Figtree is 36km from Bulawayo along Plumtree Road in Matabeleland South province. Its development is expected to create employment while easing infrastructure pressure caused by a growing population as well as taking away excess business pressure from Bulawayo.

The pursuance of the smart cities concept by the Government is complemented by the country's citizens who are building modern structures in the rural areas, a move away from the traditional thinking where rural areas were largely seen as retiring places to small productive hubs, curbing rural to urban migration.

The other places to be developed to arrest rural urban migration are Melfort and Chirundu while plans are also underway to decongest Mutare, among other areas, according to Minister of National Housing and Social Amenities Daniel Garwe.

"The Government is working towards decongesting cities such as Bulawayo, Harare, Mutare and others. The systems that were put in these cities can no longer sustain the growing population which is why we are witnessing a high number of collapsing sewage systems while some places have been without running water.

"Government has therefore identified Figtree in Bulilima district for the development of a smart city. Developing these cities will mean decentralisation of services from major cities, making it easy for people in Plumtree and other areas to access them at a shorter distance," said Minister Garwe.

The minister also spoke about developments in the country's rural areas that he said were being developed at a pace that was breath-taking by the ordinary citizenry.

"We are delighted by the houses being built in the country's rural areas. They speak to modernity and that fits perfectly well in the country's vision of having an upper-middle class economy by 2030. Our local citizens as well as those in the diaspora are building suburban houses in villages. Some are solar-powered while others are even electrified.

"In some cases, people are setting industrial hubs at their rural homes where irrigation equipment, Jojo tanks, solar-powered boreholes are put in place for horticulture and poultry production. Others with electricity are doing such projects as welding while some are into various other income generating projects," he said.

These initiatives, he said, were curbing the movement of people from rural to urban areas where most of the infrastructure was suffering from population pressure.

African Philosophy lecturer at Great Zimbabwe University Mr Joel Mukusha lauded the development of the country's rural areas saying it was African for people even in the diaspora to look at where they came from with an eye of modernising their homes and decongesting urban areas.

As a result of the seeming competition for growth and development in the village, he said, there was a new hunger for land in the rural areas where space for expansion and resources for construction were almost free.

"It is true that rural areas were behind in terms of development but the current generation has been so economically sound and are building beautiful houses and looking at investment opportunities in rural areas.

The idea is not to build comfort zones but to be productive which is why there seems to be a serious Government development strategy focusing on setting industrial hubs in villages so that resources are harnessed close to where they are and provide both employment and economic value to locals in line with the devolution agenda," he said.

Projects such as the Marula in Mwenezi speak loudly to that vision where low hanging fruits are harvested first for the community benefit. Mr Mukusha said the African spirit of knowing where one comes from should never be lost to the untiring winds of globalisation that was threatening to sweep the remaining vestiges of ubuntu down the slope.

"Even Aaron Chiundura Moyo, a prolific author wrote a book titled ‘Ziva Kwawakabva' nekuti mudzimu weshiri urimudendere' a shona idiom that admonishes people not to lose sight of where they are coming from because that is where their roots are with the ‘dendere' or nest referring to the home which in the African context is the rural home," added Mr Mukusha.

The idea of developing modern rural homes has not escaped the techno-savvy generation where groups of social media platforms have been formed where people share building plans and ideas on developing rural homes.

Minister Garwe however, called on the country's citizens to engage experts and professional builders in the construction of modern rural structures warning that they should be resistant to climate change vagaries such as cyclones, winds and excessive rains.