Kwekwe main Government offices condemned

Michael Magoronga, Midlands Correspondent
THE Government has decommissioned a Government Complex in Kwekwe amid reports that the building is precariously hanging on top of underground mining tunnels.

Government departments including the District Development Co-ordinator (DDC) and District Registrar, among others, have been ordered to evacuate the building with immediate effect and look for alternative accommodation while plans of constructing a Government Complex are being expedited.

Other affected departments include the Kwekwe Civil Courts, District Development Fund (DDF), Ministry of Information and CMED, among others. Addressing a Kwekwe District Civil Protection Unit (CPU) Kwekwe DDC, who chairs the committee, Mr Fortune Mpungu said the development follows a Zimbabwe National Geospatial and Space Agency (Zingsa) survey which was recently carried out. The survey was carried out following the caving in of a classroom block which resulted in the decommissioning of Globe and Phoenix Primary School in March where scores of learners were injured.

“We received a report that the building has been decommissioned and we should evacuate with immediate effect. The Zingsa report was however, submitted to our superiors in Harare and we are expecting to receive the full report once they are done with it. But for now, we are gathered to map the way forward since this is an emergency,” said Mr Mpungu.

After the Globe and Phoenix Primary, President Emerson Mnangagwa ordered that a geo-techno survey be conducted in Kwekwe to assess the damage caused by underground mining tunnels underground.

The Government also announced that a Government Complex will be expeditiously constructed in the city as it has become a necessity.

District public works officer Mr Willard Madamombe said he had received the directive from Harare and had been tasked to secure alternative offices.

“We have already secured some options but the main challenge is that some of them are on fourth floors which makes it difficult for some people who want to acquire national documents. We are therefore still looking for other options which are favourable to the general public,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Mpungu announced that students from the affected Globe and Phoenix Primary School will continue conducting lessons at the Sally Mugabe Primary School grounds where they are sheltered as the second term begins. He said there was need to spruce up the ablution facilities so that they contain the more than 2 000 learners without any outbreak of diseases.

“Lessons will continue at Sally Mugabe Primary (formerly Russel) when schools open. We have received funding that we have used to purchase a generator, flood lights, submissible pump and boards for the school so that there is no much disturbance,” he said.

Mr Mpungu said plans were afoot for the tentage to be moved to the new school site which was donated by Kuvimba Mining.

“We have to carry out land clearing and ensure that the place is fenced and that there are enough ablution facilities so that we can start talking about moving our tents to the new site,” he said.

The meeting also saw the creation of a committee that will spearhead the construction of classroom blocks at the six-hectare piece of land once construction commences. A number of businesspeople and institutions have since pledged support in the construction of the school.