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Investors and the Hwange community should have a mutual relationship in order to achieve an upper middle class income economy within the district, a business expert has said.
Currently infrastructural developments within the district are moving at a snail’s pace as the two entities are disconnected while the disgruntled community is skeptical to accommodate more investors who they say are not fulfilling their promises.
Based in Hwange, Peterson Ncube a business expert said the district has the potential of becoming well developed if relations between investors and the community are reinforced and polished to create a mutual understanding between the parties.
“The business community needs to integrate the community into their activities because they are making a lot of money at the expense of the locals.”
“For instance, the investors should engage the locals for security services that safeguard their properties. Security personnel should come from within the community and no other companies should be contracted from elsewhere to offer the services.”
Ncube said local transport operators should also be contracted or awarded tenders instead of hiring those from parts as far as Harare or Bulawayo.
Ncube revealed that it was surprising that most vegetable produce in the district is not from Hwange as hotels and other business entities opt to purchase them from neighbouring countries or from Bulawayo and Harare yet Hwange has one of the largest water sources in Africa (Zambezi River).
He said there was need for members of the community to partner with the local authority and develop the available resources and engage investors top develop the area rather than plunder its resources leaving vast environmental destruction.
“Products such as these need to come from the locals as the resources to produce them are present. It is a good thing that we have soil which can be manipulated to meet standards for production. We also have Zambezi River to our advantage. There is need to engage the local authorities and turn our vast land around stretching to Victoria Falls into commercial farms,” he said.
“The community of Hwange is crying foul because of the legacy some investors have left. The environment has been degraded and all that is left are empty pits resulting from mining activities carried out by these investors,” he said.
Ncube urged investors who come to the area to take a leaf from Hwange Colliery Company Limited’s (HCCL) engagement with the community.
“If Colliery managed to build roads, hospitals, and schools from coal mining, what can stop you from doing the same? There are no bakeries or millers, the situation of Hwange is just pathetic,” he said.
Hwange district has tourism facilities and mining deposits that contribute effectively to the country’s economy if well managed.
The government is aiming to raise one billion dollars from the rich coal fields in the area by 2023. Indaba
