Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has announced that the government is set to build a clinic in Cowdray Park suburb.
Cowdray Park suburb, which is still developing, is one of the biggest suburbs in the city with over 33 000 housing stands.
According to the latest council minutes, the Director of Health Services Dr Edwin Sibanda reported on May 7, 2020, that the department had received communication from the Ministry of Health and Child Care to the effect that the suburb is one of the four sites identified countrywide for clinic construction.
“On February 5, 2020, we received communication that Cowdray Park had been selected as one of the four sites nationally for the construction of upgraded polyclinics/ health centres in the first phase of a Government of Zimbabwe project,” read the minutes.
The minutes stated that pursuant to the proposal, a memorandum (17 February 2020, Ref C14/32) had been written to both the Engineering Services and Housing and Community Services departments seeking assistance with identifying a site for the clinic.
“The Housing and Community Services department recommended that further information pertaining to, Ministry of Health and Child Care letter introducing the Contractor to City of Bulawayo and also that building plans to be used for the construction of the Poly Clinic be sought from the Ministry,” read the minutes.
“The requested information had since been obtained and shared with relevant departments. It was against this background that the department requested the Housing and Community Services department to avail the proposed construction site to the contractor for purposes of building an upgraded polyclinic for City of Bulawayo while the project was fully funded by the Government of Zimbabwe.”
Ward 28 Councillor Kidwell Mujuru expressed gratitude over the development, citing that some Cowdray Park residents were travelling to Luveve to acquire medical services.
“This is a very welcome development from the government. Cowdray Park is a very huge suburb with about 33 000 residential stands and not having a clinic at such an area is very inconvenient. We are very grateful to the government for this important provision,” said Cllr Mujuru.
