The Beit Bridge Rural District has unveiled a US$2 million budget, with the larger chunk of the money earmarked for the completion of several major projects in the rural areas.

The council’s chief executive officer, Mr Albert Mbedzi, told Mirror that the bulk amount of the money would be raised from levies, hunting concessions, licensing and partners.

“We have come up with US$2 million for the Beit Bridge Rural District and a large chunk of that money will go towards completing major projects lined up in the rural district such as Makombe Clinic, Tshaswingo community hall and a block of classrooms and teachers’ cottages at Shashe Secondary School. As a shift from what we used to do before the split of the local authority into separate entities, we are going to prioritize rural schools, roads and clinics,” he said.

Mbedzi said they hoped to complete the Makombe Clinic project, which has been lying idle since 2004 due to a lack of adequate funds, next year. When complete, the clinic will ease the burden on local villagers who are forced to travel long distances to neighbour-ing Tshaswingo village, situated about 15 km away.

Mbedzi said in an effort to improve service delivery, the council would rehabilitate boreholes in several areas. In some areas, the boreholes have not been functioning properly, forcing villagers to travel long distances to fetch water. “We have since set up a team whose job is to repair boreholes, because we are saying the issue of sanitation and water supply is very critical,” he said.

Mbedzi said council has since applied for a loan facility from government in the form of equipment worth US$800 000. “We also intend to repair and maintain our roads, which are certainly in a poor state. We are likely to get a grader, a small dozer and a roller all valued at US$800 000 as part of the loan from government. “In fact, you will note that the thrust of the budget is mainly centred on improving service delivery to our people in the rural areas,” said the council chief.