BY ALBERT NXUMALO
Hwange Central Constituency legislator Daniel Molokele has set out an ambitious 10 point 2020 master plan that seeks to transform the โdying coal-mining town into a thriving commercial and industrial cityโ.
According to Molokele, โthe year 2020 will be a year of doubling-up all our effortsโ and as such, he kicked off the year with intensive planning processes.
โDuring this week, we managed to finalise on both our Strategic Plan and our Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the year ahead,โ wrote Molokele in a report seen by CITE.
โFurther, we also discussed and adopted a full programme of action and calendar for the whole of 2020.
โIn particular, we also came up with a detailed plan of activities and initiatives for the first quarter of the year, covering from January till the end of March 2020โ.
Detailing the programme of action, Molokele said he will among other aspects capitalise and operationalise community companies formed last year.
โAs you might be all aware, the Office of the MP has spearheaded the setting up of new local community-owned companies focusing on local production of everyday commodities such as bread, bottled water, fruits, vegetables, honey, pork, goat meat, chicken, fish, detergents, etc.
โDuring 2019 most of the focus was on the development of a universal shareholding model and also the registration of all the new companies. This year, the focus will shift a gear up towards the twin aspects of capitalisation and operationalisation of all the new companies,โ reads part of the report.
On employment whose focus is on locals, the report state that Whange Local Skills Database, Whange Scholarship Initiative, Whange Local Companies Annual Index, Whange Annual Local Employment Summit where initiated in 2020.
Over the years, residents in the mining town have complained that they are routinely overlooked by established firms in the mining town in preference for โforeignersโ.
โ We will continue to double-up all our efforts in this regard,โ he said.
Access to Quality Education is another key point that will be tackled this year.
โLast year the Office of the MP set up the Whange Education Forum. This year we will continue to use the forum to promote access to quality education in Whange. We will seek for the setting up of our first local boarding schools,โ wrote Molokele who is the Chairman of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee for Higher and Tertiary Education.
โWe are so excited about the setting up of the Whange Teachers College and so this year, we will continue to actively advocate for the setting up of more institutions for higher learning in our constituencyโ.
Access to Quality Health-care, sustainable Water Strategy, promotion of Local Arts, Sports and Recreation, Annual Day of Prayer and Gospel Festival, Whange Sports Gala, Whange Heroes Awards, Whange Community Radio, Whange Pageants Trust, Whange Annual Christmas Charity Dinner form part of initiatives that will be scaled up this year.
โIt is indeed our singular honour and privilege to be of humble service to our local community as we seek to help transform our beloved Whange from being a dying coal-mining town into a thriving commercial and industrial city,โ he said.
