Marondera is getting a large new shopping mall in its town centre as a result of investment by the Zesa Pension Fund with construction now just over 90 percent complete and the opening expected in the second quarter of this year.
Last week project manager Engineer Lloyd Ngoro took Mashonaland East Secretary for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Mr Tavabarira Kutamahufa and other Government officials round the construction site to show progress and give a briefing.
The officials wanted to have an appreciation of progress on Government and private sector development in Marondera district.
Eng Ngoro said as construction nears completion, several companies have already shown interest in occupying business space at the mall.
“I can safely say that this project is now slightly over 90 percent complete and our target is to finish off the job by the end of March, before opening the doors to members of the public at the beginning of April this year,” he said.
“Among the occupants in the mall will be Bola Hardware and Bon Marche, entities that will be our anchor hardware and supermarket respectively. We will also have Surrey Pies, Zimbabwe National Road Authority and Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC), among others, while a hospital will also be opened during the second phase of the project.”
Speaking soon after the tour, Mr Kutamahufa commended the construction progress.
He said completion of the mall will change the face of Marondera.
“This is a modern mall and when complete, it will spruce up the image of our provincial capital. Quite a number of activities will be packaged here and a lot of economic activities will be taking place. In a nutshell, Marondera will not be the same again.”
Progress on the shopping mall comes after the Madokero Shopping Mall was commissioned by President Mnangagwa recently.
The Madokero Mall, situated in Harare, was funded by the Public Service Pension Fund.
Mr Kutamahufa later led the delegation as it visited the council water works, among other projects around town.
Marondera Municipality was allocated $330 million and has so far spent $31 million buying modular tanks, water reticulation pipes, and rehabilitating sewage pump stations.
Mr Kutamahufa said the Government was working tirelessly to improve the livelihoods of residents and ensure clean water provision.
“We have toured several projects done by Marondera municipality using devolution funds and in that vein, we want to thank our Government for disbursing these funds which will see the improvement of the town, especially in areas where there are challenges of water.
“During the tour we also witnessed the team which was on the ground rehabilitating sewer pipes.
“In Cherutombo and Nyameni suburbs, there are water modular tanks which have been erected to ease water challenges in the area, I heard that some residents have gone more than a decade without running water.”
Mr Kutamahufa said the Second Republic, through its mantra of leaving no one and no place behind, had reduced the burden on ratepayers.
“We want to thank His Excellency President Mnangagwa for introducing devolution funds, which are meant to transform the livelihoods of residents.
“As we can see now, the funds are now used to rehabilitate the sewer and procure water tanks.
“Some of the materials and projects which were implemented by devolution funds were supposed to be bought using money from ratepayers,” said Mr Kutamahufa.
Marondera Municipality Water and Works Engineer Christopher George, said they are expecting to pump water from the modular tanks by month end.
“We are happy that 5 000 cubic meters of modular water tanks are going to provide water to residents by the end of this month and we are going to assure residents that they are going to receive water daily,” said Eng George. – The Herald
