Harare — GOVERNMENT has been challenged to make available more resources towards rehabilitation of key infrastructure such as roads and telecommunication services in the sprawling and remote Maranda communal lands in Mwenezi.

Most of the infrastructure in the area is dilapidated, following years of neglect and under-funding.

House of Assembly representative for Mwenezi East Cde Kudakwashe Bhasikiti last Friday told Vice- President Joice Mujuru, on a two-day tour of the constituency, most parts of Maranda still bore the effects of devastation caused by cyclone-induced rains about a decade ago.

Cde Bhasikiti said Maranda was virtually cut off from the rest of the country after most roads became impassable after the cyclonic rains that pounded parts of southern Zimbabwe.

He said the area was devoid of effective telecommunication services and appealed to central Government to mobilise material and financial resources to foster development.

'We are appealing to the Government to help us with funds so that at least some basic infrastructure such as roads, bridges and dams that were destroyed by heavy rains years ago can be repaired.

"There has been very little repair work on most of the infrastructure due to shortage of funds and we urge Government to do something.

"Most parts of Mwenezi do not have reliable telecommunication services and that alone has been greatly affecting the pace of achieving development, while at the same time people have been forced to travel long distances to get telecomms services," said Cde Bhasikiti.

He said key institutions, such as hospitals and schools, sometimes operated without water after rains destroyed many feeder dams, forcing them to resort to the use of boreholes.

VP Mujuru said Government had faced difficulties in reserving funds for development projects in the past owing to commitments of importing food as a way of mitigating the effects of recurrent droughts.

She urged communities to use their land maximally to enhance food security at household level to enable Government to channel resources towards development projects such as the rehabilitation of roads.

The combined effects of the cyclones and the en masse withdrawal of donor organisations following the imposition of illegal economic sanctions on Zimbabwe by the West have worsened the decay of most services in the area, she said.