29 Apr 2019

Jackalas 2 Village Development Committee (VDC) secretary has hailed constituency funds for having enabled them to execute some of development projects in their village.

Speaking in an interview with BOPA recently, Mr Lawrence Mpofu said for a long time their village, which is in the North East region, had plans to build a sport complex, but could not realise this dream because of lack of funds.

However, he noted that with the constituency fund of 2017/18 they managed to build a perimeter wall around the sport ground which comprised of a football pitch, netball and volleyball grounds.

Mr Mpofu indicated that with the P500 000 awarded to their village they channeled P425 000 to the sport ground and the remaining P75 000 was used to purchase computers for the kgotla as well as installation of air conditioners.

He stated that the VDC and all stakeholders took advantage of this project to empower locals, hence the requirement for tendering of the wall construction was strictly for Jackalas 2 locals only.

Mr Mpofu noted that two local companies were engaged to build a perimeter wall around the sport ground, adding that these companies hired Jackalas 2 youth.

He stated that the sport grounds were open for youth interested in sport as this would help them stay away from social ills.

Mr Mpofu further stated that VDC also freely offered the sport grounds for constituency tournaments.

However, he said the mini stadium generated income through hosting music festivals and Christmas football tournaments.

The VDC secretary said for the 2018/19 constituency funds, they would build two fully furnished chalets at the community park which would cost P275 000 each.

He indicated that the plans had been approved by the North East District Council and they were awaiting the awarding of tender.

Mr Mpofu said with time they would expand the park and build more chalets to cater for more customers. He said the chalets would accommodate visitors who came to Jackalas 2 for events like weddings and funerals.

He highlighted that for the year 2019/20 they had planned to install an electricity transformer in one of their wards, where the electricity grid was not sufficient.

The VDC secretary stated that quotations for connections were too high for individuals, hence as VDC they saw it fit to cushion residents and install the transmitter so that every resident had access to electricity.

He stated that they had already made plans and specifications for the electricity grid as well as transformer and were awaiting the council to approve the plans so that they could award tenders for connection. Mr Mpofu said as a village they appreciated the constituency funds for in the past they struggled to find funding for their projects. ENDS