Steel plant furnaces components arrive

GIANT furnaces worth millions of dollars yesterday arrived at the Manhize steelmills site in Mvuma as the US$1 billion iron and steel plant takes shape.

Villagers and the surrounding community went out into the cold weather to gaze as heavy duty trucks, lights flicking to warn other road users of their abnormal loads, steadily drove to the site of the new mills to offload the equipment.

Manhize Steel plant, which is being set up by Dinson Iron and Steel Company (Disco), a subsidiary of the giant Chinese steel producer Tshingshan Holdings Group, will be one of the biggest iron and steel producers in Africa.

Project manager Mr Wilfred Motsi said there were exciting times ahead for the Mvuma community in particular and the nation at large as the new works were fast taking shape.

Most of the critical equipment for the plant was now on the ground, arriving in the country on time after the granting of national project status to the steel mills and removal of bottlenecks during import.

“We have been receiving the furnaces equipment components since the beginning of this week and tomorrow there will be a ministerial delegation which will be coming to tour the plant to see progress,” he said.

Mr Motsi was happy with the support that the company was getting from Government.

Local villagers are looking forward to the way the new steelmills will change the face of the area.

“This is a huge fortune that we as the people of Manhize were presented to by the Almighty. For long we have been poor villagers and did not know that we had some treasures in the underground which can turn this area into a town,” said Mr Lameck Mazvihwa a local villager.

Mrs Egness Chimbiri said she has started enjoying the benefits of the arrival of the new company after two of her children were employed by the company.

“We also now have a mobile phone network here. Before, we had no network, you would go to certain high points to access network but now we are connected,” she said.

Another villager, Mrs Yeukai Mhazi said the company has brought development in the area.

“The pace at which our area is developing since the coming in of this company is amazing. We are very happy that this place will soon be a modern town of its own kind,” she said.

The Manhize Steel plant was recently placed under the Government’s 100-day priority projects.

The billion dollar project will culminate in the establishment of a new town in Manhize and on completion, it is expected to create over 3 000 jobs.-herald.cl.zw