Chronicle EditorLeonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
VICTORIA Falls residents have urged government to urgently open a Vocational Training Centre (VTC) in the resort town with a bias towards tourism to cater for local youths.
Speaking at the Victoria Falls Press Club last Friday, representatives of residents and employers concurred that there was an urgent need for a training college with a bias towards tourism in the resort town.
Representing residents, Mr Kelvin Moyo said the Combined Victoria Falls Residents Association had confronted some companies and businesses that had allegedly bussed workers from outside the town while locals are unemployed.
Hwange West Member of Parliament Cde Bekithemba Mpofu, who was also one of the panelists at the Press Club, said it is difficult for employers to employ locals because of lack of skills.
“Businesses open for profit making and it’s difficult for companies to employ people based on the fact that they are locals because some will not be having the required qualifications.
“Victoria Falls is a tourism hub but there is no college to train people in the field. We have been urging government in Parliament to build a training college in Matabeleland North so that locals gain skills that can make them competitive at work,” he said. The president of the Employers Association for the Tourism and Safari Operators, Mr Clement Mukwasi, said companies end up resorting to in-house training of unskilled people so as to include locals.
Victoria Falls-based lawyer Mr Givemore Mvhiringi challenged locals to push for a training college.
Presenting a $5 billion 2018 National Budget under the theme “New Economic Order,” Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa set aside $3,6 million for the establishment of VCTs, one in each district.
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