THE Government has resolved to renovate the Mpilo Central Hospital doctors’ residence that burned down on Wednesday and help affected workers replace destroyed personal belongings and certificates.
During the fire incident- the third in three years- about
39 doctors were forced to escape through a window when fire gutted the
building, destroying all their belongings including household property,
certificates, food and clothing.
The near-death experience resulted in one of the doctors
suffering a broken ankle as he tried to jump out of the two-storey building.
Among those who were thrown out of the blazing fire are
children who had to seek alternative accommodation for the night while members
of Fire and Ambulance Services battled to put out the fire for hours.
Of those affected are four children, the youngest being 11
months old and oldest being seven years old. Property worth over US$500 000 was
destroyed.
The 1 000-bed public hospital serves Bulawayo Metropolitan
Province, Matabeleland North and South, Midlands and Masvingo provinces.
Speaking after touring the gutted building yesterday
evening, Health and Child Care Deputy Minister Dr John Mangwiro said the damage
was extensive and was a result of lack of maintenance.
Dr Mangwiro was accompanied by Bulawayo Minister for
Provincial Affairs and Devolution Judith Ncube, Health Service Board
chairperson Dr Paulinus Sikosana and other Government officials.
He said the Government had already applied for the doctors
and their dependants to get birth certificates and identity cards replaced.
Dr Mangwiro said their passports will also be sorted on
Monday as the Government is committed to ensure their normal life is restored
within the shortest period of time.
“We have seen the damage is quite extensive as this
building accommodates about 39 health care workers. Sometime in 2018 another
block which accommodated 12 people and the canteen were burnt down and unfortunately
the damage was quite extensive as well,” said Dr Mangwiro.
“We have already sat down and given each other tasks as
Government and we want to establish how much doctors lost in terms of their
personal property. We have already arranged that they get their birth
certificates, ID cards, and their passports will be arranged next week on
Monday.”
Dr Mangwiro said the doctors will, courtesy of the
Government, get clothing, food, temporary accommodation and their tools which
were lost in the fire.
He said in the meantime, the doctors and their families
will be accommodated at Bulawayo Polytechnic.
“The main problem is lack of maintenance. These buildings
were built more than 50 years ago, hence we should always work on them to avoid
such tragedies. This is a lesson for us. We do not want such things to happen
hence we will do everything to renovate the affected building and the nurses’
residence which is in a bad state,’’ added Dr Mangwiro.
Bulawayo also rallied behind the affected doctors and by yesterday
campaigns had been established to help them have food, clothing, toiletries and
blankets. Their plight was discussed on a number of WhatsApp platforms with
calls for members of the public to help them.
Women Institute of Leadership Development (WILD), Christian
Alliance, Centre for Innovation and Technology (CITE) and IAM4 BYO partnered to
coordinate donations for the doctors.
By yesterday evening, the organisations had already
gathered toiletries, clothing and food which were distributed to the doctors.
In an interview, Ms Jana Ncube from IAM4 BYO said it was
the duty of every resident to help the doctors get back on their feet.
“We are rallying the public in Bulawayo to rise and help
the doctors at this hour of their need. Doctors in this city and the country
have been heroes and heroines taking care of us during Covid at their own risk
and it’s now our turn to take care of them,” said Ms Ncube.
“We call upon Zimbabweans across the country especially
business people, diaspora groups and philanthropists to rise and help rebuild
the facilities destroyed by the fire at Mpilo hospital.”
Ms Ncube said Mpilo’s buildings needed renovating and
called on companies to contribute building material and labour to help the
doctors lead normal lives.
“Mpilo is our referral hospital that serves the whole
nation and so it’s imperative at this time when the greatest threat we face as
a nation is Covid-19 – a health related issue – that we make sure the
facilities are rebuilt as quickly as possible. They need clothes from underwear
to every piece of clothing,” she said.
“It’s winter now and they need warm clothing and phones as
they only came out with their lives. The trauma they went through will be
addressed by psycho-social support from loved ones.” Chronicle
0 comments:
Post a Comment