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Leonard Ncube in Victoria Falls
Construction of a Lupane State University (LSU) campus in Victoria Falls has started after Government recently released funds for the project.
Last year, LSU acquired two hectares of land from Victoria Falls City Council to build an international school of hospitality and tourism.
This followed concerns from major players in the tourism industry about not getting support from the academic sector in terms of skilled personnel in the area of hospitality and tourism.
The satellite campus is expected to have on-campus accommodation for students.
It is going to assist in the training of requisite human skills that should support the tourism and hospitality industry as well as improve livelihoods and the national economy.
Despite being the country’s tourism capital, Victoria Falls does not have a tourism school.
The industry relies on outsourcing personnel from other parts of the country where there are hospitality and tourism schools such as in Bulawayo, Masvingo, Chinhoyi, Harare and Gweru, as well as outside the country.
This has over the years created animosity as locals complained about importation of labour, saying they are sidelined.
A tourism school in the resort city will come as a relief for both local residents who will get an opportunity to train in their own backyard as a majority of them are employed in the sector, and the industry which will also have a pool of skilled personnel locally.
A news crew visited the site on the buffer zone between Chinotimba and the Hwange-Victoria Falls Highway yesterday and observed that big trees have been cleared while water has since been connected to the site.
Workmen were busy on site working on construction of a storeroom which is almost at window level and they said its completion will pave way for delivery of more building material to start digging of foundations and actual construction work.
LSU marketing and communications director Mr Zwelithini Dlamini said designs for the main structures had been completed although he could not give more details on the type of buildings to be constructed.
“We have received the first tranche of funds from the Ministry (Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development) and construction will start soon as designs are already there. Land clearing has started and water has been connected while partial construction of supportive infrastructure is being carried out,” said Mr Dlamini.
He said the institution will enrol anyone who wishes to study tourism related courses regardless of province of origin.
It will also target international students basing on Victoria Falls’ proximity to Botswana, Namibia and Zambia and popularity of the destination.
LSU operates from Bulawayo and Lupane campuses with an enrolment of over 5 000 students.
The tourism industry is excited about the development which dovetails with the Tourism Growth and Recovery Strategy and drive towards a US$5 billion industry by 2025. A number of hotel facilities have also sprouted in Victoria Falls.
Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe (HAZ) national chair Mr Farai Chimba said a hospitality and tourism school is a much awaited development which should transcend beyond just tourism.
“This is a welcome development as it starts capacitating the region which has no formal tourism institution as we grow tourism numbers in line with NDS1 targets.
‘‘This is significant as it allows residents to get formal hospitality and tourism qualifications without having to incur huge expenses going to other provinces which was beyond their means. The institution should extend to other programmes that are attached to the tourism value chain in its curriculum,” said Mr Chimba.
In its robust development agenda towards modernising the country’s economy, the Second Republic has initiated innovation projects which are at the heart of the country’s Education 5.0 philosophy, geared to make lives of all Zimbabweans better.
President Mnangagwa recently officially opened a state-of-the-art Midlands State University (MSU) National Pathology Research and Diagnostic Centre in Gweru, the largest in the country and built using Government funding, as the New Dispensation forges ahead with the transformative and inclusive development in line with the aspirations of Vision 2030, which seeks to achieve an empowered upper middle income economy.
The new pathological facility is expected to address the shortage of local pathologists and help trim foreign currency losses from service outsourcing through creating such specialist programmes at home.
Similarly, the LSU will help address shortages of skilled hospitality industry personnel as well as issues of importation of labour to the province whose economy is largely hinged on tourism.
In Matabeleland North, the New Dispensation has embarked on completion of Lupane Provincial Hospital, Hwange Thermal Power Station Unit 7 and 8 expansion, together with its 42km Deka Pipeline, Lake Gwayi-Shangani, Bubi-Lupane Irrigation Scheme as well as Bulawayo Kraal Irrigation Scheme among others.
Completion of these projects will inevitably trigger development and the need for more services in the province.
Matabeleland North Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Richard Moyo, said Matabeleland North will never be the same after completion of projects being implemented by the Second Republic.
He said having a tourism training school in Victoria Falls will not only transform the tourism sector with skills but will also reduce the cost of accessing education for local youths who have been travelling to other provinces to attain tertiary hospitality education while others remained casual workers because of lack of tertiary qualifications.
“As Matabeleland North we are excited when such projects that have a direct bearing on citizens start shaping up. We thank President Mnangagwa because that is what he promised that the Second Republic is going to do and we are grateful when these projects have taken off.
“Our youth will now have to train for tourism and related fields and get jobs locally in their province which will also reduce the costs of attaining education. As you can see several other projects are taking shape and a few days ago pipes for thee Deka Pipeline arrived and I am sure they will start laying them soon,” he said.
Online Reporter