Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. A significant portion of the US$50 000 disbursed under the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) for Zengeza East has been channeled towards improving hygiene and learning conditions for young learners in underprivileged schools in Chitungwiza, it has emerged.
On Tuesday, Chitungwiza council officials joined Zengeza East Member of Parliament Goodrich Chimbaira in commissioning an Early Childhood Development (ECD) toilet block built at Ndangariro Primary School using his CDF allocation.
“Although we had started completing some projects at schools like Seke 6 primary, Seke 5 primary, and Chinembiri primary, Ndangariro Council Primary School needed the most urgent assistance because they had a severe shortage of toilets,” Chambaira said.
“The initial budget for this was around US$12 000, but it later increased to US$16 000 due to additional resources that had not been included in the initial estimate.
“The amount we had been given for all these projects was ZiG 1 341 500, which forced me to use money from my own pocket to complete the toilet block at Ndangariro Primary School.”
Ndagariro is one of nine council schools in Chitungwiza, and has an enrollment of 1 223 learners.
According to Chimbaira, the allocation of half of the promised US$100 000 in funding has left critical development projects underfunded and a legacy of unmet deadlines.
“We have identified 10 projects that we would like to implement across all the schools,” he said.
“We had been promised funding equivalent to US$100 000 to cover two years, but we only received US$50 000.
“If we had received the full amount requested, we could have completed all the projects.
“However, because of the small amount we actually received, we decided to focus on the most disadvantaged schools first.
“Ndangariro Council Primary School was among those identified.”
Meanwhile, Chitungwiza mayor Rosaria Mangoma has applauded the prioritisation of educational infrastructure and urged legislators to collaborate with the municipality to improve service delivery.
“We are pleased to have Members of Parliament who come back to the people and complement the council’s efforts,” Mangoma said.
“This is how we build our city together.
“I call on all MPs to do the same.”
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