A building that was being used by a number of Government departments in Kwekwe City has been decommissioned amid reports the structure is precariously hanging on top of underground mining tunnels.
Government departments including the District Development
Coordinator (DDC) and District Registrar among others, have been ordered to
vacate the building with immediate effect and look for alternative
accommodation.
Other affected departments include the Kwekwe Civil Courts,
District Development Fund (DDF), Ministry of Information, Publicity and
Broadcasting Services and CMED among others.
Government departments in Kwekwe are dotted across the city
as it does not have a Government Complex yet other towns including small towns
like Gokwe and Lupane have such buildings.
Addressing a Kwekwe District Civil Protection Unit (CPU)
meeting, Kwekwe DDC, who chairs the committee, Mr Fortune Mpungu said the
decison to decommission the building follows findings of a recent study by the
Zimbabwe National Geo Special and Space Agency (ZINGSA).
The survey was carried out following the unfortunate
incident which resulted in the decommissioning of Globe and Phoenix Primary
School in March after a classroom block caved in injuring scores of pupils.
“We received a report that the building has been
decommissioned and we should vacate with immediate effect. The ZINGSA report
was submitted to our superiors in Harare and we are expecting to receive the
full report once they are done with it. We have to find alternative
accommodation for our officers since this is an emergency,” said Mr Mpungu.
After the Globe and Phoenix Primary incident, President
Mnangagwa ordered that a geo techno survey be conducted in Kwekwe to assess the
extent of the damage caused by underground mining tunnels.
Government also announced that a Government complex will be
expeditiously constructed in the city to accommodate Government departments.
District public works officer Mr Willard Madamombe said he
had been tasked to secure alternative offices.
“We have already secured office space at some buildings but
the main challenge is that some of the offices are on fourth floor making it
difficult for the elderly and people living with disabilities to access services
such as acquiring national documents. We are still looking for other options
that are user friendly,” he said.
Mr Madamombe said another option is to refurbish a complex
situated out of the city centre but the challenge is that it is too far from
the people.
“We are still in liaison with departments like the
Registrar’s General’s Office so that we find offices that can easily be
accessed by members of the public,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Mpungu announced that pupils from the
affected Globe and Phoenix Primary School will continue conducting lessons at
the Sally Mugabe Primary School grounds.
He however said there is a need to work on the ablution
facilities at the school as they are now being used by an increased number of
pupils.
“Lessons will continue at Sally Mugabe Primary when schools
open for the second term. We have received funding that we have used to buy a
generator, flood lights, submersible pump and boards to ensure comfortable
learning environment,” he said.
Mr Mpungu said Kuvimba Mining House donated land where a
new Globe and Phoenix Primary School will be built.
“We have to carry out land clearing, ensure that the place
is fenced and that there are enough ablution facilities before moving our tents
to the new site,” he said. Herald
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