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Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Gwanda Correspondent
MATABELELAND South Province has received $2,1 million from Government for water works at health centres in the province.
In an interview, DDF Matabeleland South provincial coordinator, Mr Moment Malandu said 24 health centres have been targeted under the project.
He said work which will be conducted include rehabilitating boreholes and drilling new ones and repairing pumps.
“As DDF Matabeleland South Province we have received $2 185 000 from Government to repair and rehabilitate water supplies in health centres in the province. We had made a request to Government seeking funds to attend to health centres as quite a number are facing a challenge with water supplies. We will be rehabilitating water supplies in 24 health centres across the province with these funds,” he said.
“We are however going to make a request for more funds as not all health centres with water challenges will be catered for now. We are in the process of procuring spares so that we can attend to the identified health facilities with the highest level of swiftness. It is essential for these works to be conducted as the health facilities have been earmarked to be isolation centres. Water is pivotal in mitigating against Covid-19.
Health centres need clean water to function hygienically and they need to be exemplary to communities.”
Mr Malandu said they initially identified 44 health centres in the province which were facing water challenges and among them was Maphisa District Hospital which had a blocked piping system and electricity challenges, Kezi Rural Hospital which had an old and dilapidated system.
He said the DDF rig had been deployed to drill two boreholes at Maphisa, one at the hospital and the other in the community in order to alleviate serious water challenges there.
“The health centres with inadequate water supplies have varying challenges. For some the boreholes have broken and need to be repaired, some have an old and dilapidated water system, others don’t have a water source and rely on community boreholes or nearby rivers and dams, others are affected by power cuts which disrupt water supply. For some the water table is very low and boreholes have dried up others rely on sand abstractions and diesel is a challenge. If funds permit there is a need for all water systems at health centres to be solarised,” he said.
Mr Malandu recently said the province needed an additional 800 boreholes at a total cost of $5,4 million in order to ease water challenges in the area. — @DubeMatutu
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