Superfert Fertiliser Company yesterday donated 500 litres
of diesel to Bindura Hospital, while one of the major service stations in the
town owned by Puma yesterday agreed to prioritise the sale of diesel to the
hospital and other health institutions in the province whose operations were
being severely affected by load shedding.
The undertaking follows an urgent meeting that was convened
by the Provincial Development Coordinator Mr Cosmos Chiringa with the hospital
authorities, officials from the Puma fuel service station in the town and other
stakeholders.
Mr Chiringa said Bindura Hospital was failing to carry out
normal operations during load shedding because its generator had no diesel.
“Operations at Bindura Hospital were being affected by the
shortage of fuel during electricity load shedding.
“We convened an urgent meeting with the Puma regional
manager, the provincial medical officer and other stakeholders and asked him to
prioritise the sale of diesel to Bindura Hospital and other hospitals in the
province to allow them to use their generators during load shedding.
“The regional manager said that they get fuel allocations
three times per week and asked Bindura Hospital and other health institutions
in our town to provide them with their fuel requirements. Puma is a private
company and as Government have to engage them to find a sustainable solution to
our crisis.
“We have advised all district administrators to work with
fuel depots in their respective districts. However in the event that the
districts have no fuel, Bindura district will intervene. I am grateful to the
donation by Superfert and co-operation from Puma, I am hopeful that operations
will return to normal at the hospital.”
Mr Chiringa added that they have made similar arrangement
for winter wheat farmers.
“Our farmers should also access fuel and we have advised
Agritex and Command Agriculture to furnish a list of farmers to be prioritised.
I want to warn some people against abusing this arrangement
by using names of institutions to access fuel for personal use,” said Mr Chiringa.
Efforts to get a comment from Bindura Hospital
superintendent Dr Gwagwa Budirirai on the situation at the hospital were
fruitless as he referred all questions to provincial medical director Dr
Clemance Tshuma who also referred this reporter to Mr Chiringa.
However, a WhatsApp message seeking urgent assistance for
the hospital that has been circulating indicated that all operations at the
hospital had ceased due to the unavailability of fuel in the hospital’s
generator.
One of the critical areas that were affected according to
the message was the life support system in the neonatal ward for pre-term
babies, which is dependent on power. Herald
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