Gwanda residents demand a new bridge

From: Gwanda Residents Association

To: Gwanda Central MP Hon Edison Gumbo

1 February 2017

Mtshabezi River Bridge

The above refers,

Following yesterday's flooding of Mtshabezi River and subsequent overflow on the Mtshabezi River Bridge on the Old Bulawayo road we certainly believe that this correspondence will yet again not take your esteemed office by surprise.

It is only sad that this kind of communication is now turning into a routine which must be done by residents every rain season to every parliamentarian representing us as Gwanda constituency.

The communication is getting just as enough routine as promises by every other person wanting to represent us in parliament does before they are elected to office your honourable self also included in the list of those who have vowed that they will build a new bridge for us as soon as they are elected into office.

As residents of Gwanda we are now so confused as to exactly where the construction of a proper bridge over this river is being bottled up thirty seven years into independence.

Exactly about the same time last year we raised the same concern to your office and our local authority so was the year before and certainly every other year before but still nothing is being done to solve this problem.

In our communication with you last year we even questioned why the Gwanda Community Share Ownership Trust can not come on board and be partners in the construction of the new bridge but there was no favourable response from that dimension.

At every Parliamentary Committee Budget Consultation, the Mtshabezi River Bridge is always the first thing that residents raise with the committee which you are also a member of and every time the promise is always the same that this will be prioritised.

You will remember very well how emotional the residents always get when the issue of this bridge is raised in these consultations to an extent that in the 2015 consultations one resident even threatened to do the worst by suggesting that may be to move parliament to action he may need to go and plant explosives on the bridge and blow it up.

Should we wait until our residents resort to taking such drastic measures before parliament moves to notice that there is a need for a new bridge over Mtshabezi River?

As residents of Gwanda town we are particularly saddened by the fact that we have within us four Members of Parliament and three senators resident in Gwanda and all taking turns to regularly use this bridge but never take time to raise the issue of the bridge in parliament.

We therefore by means of this correspondence like to ask your office to get into action demanding for the immediate construction of the bridge by the responsible ministry.

We know with all certainty that all the planning and sitting of the bridge was done years ago and ready waiting somewhere in an office that is lacking a basic political will to get the bridge done.

We certainly hope that this will be the last of the numerous communications that we are going to be raising requesting for the construction of the Mtshabezi River Bridge. We sincerely hope that our next communication on the matter will be an appreciation for the start of the construction of the bridge.

Sincerely

Bekezela Maduma Fuzwayo
Secretary General
Gwanda Residents Association.
(0716486415)