Online Reporter
Patrick Chitumba [email protected]
THE Minister of State for Midlands Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Owen Ncube, has donated groceries, blankets, buckets, pots and other household items valued at more than US$2 000 to 56 students at Kwekwe Polytechnic College who were affected by a fire at their boarding house recently.
The fire, whose cause is yet to be established, gutted the GTS boarding house where the 56 students stay on 24 May this year.
According to Minister Ncube, the fire, which destroyed the students’ accommodation facility, resulted in female students losing personal belongings, including identity documents and national certificates, while other students managed to salvage some of their property.
Speaking during the recent handover of the donation at Kwekwe Polytechnic College, Minister Ncube said he decided to assist the affected students after learning about their plight.
“As your Minister in Midlands Province, we saw it fit to come to this tertiary institution to make personal donations to the students because we work with the students at this institution,” said Minister Ncube.
He commended the City of Kwekwe Fire Brigade for responding quickly to the incident, saying their swift action helped to contain the situation.
Minister Ncube said his office would continue looking for additional resources to support the affected students.
“We are very sorry for our students and their parents. However, we are complementing what the church has done for the students and what the college is also doing to assist,” he said.
The donated items included blankets, toiletries, mealie-meal, cooking oil, porridge, buckets, towels and cooking pots, among other essentials.
Kwekwe Polytechnic College Principal Engineer Evans Musara said the fire was a huge blow to the students.
“It is a privately owned boarding house close by which was affected by the fire. The damage was quite extensive and a lot of them were away,” he said.
“So, all their items like laptops, documents, blankets as well as food and cooking facilities were lost. It’s really bad. We appreciate the gesture by the minister as it will go a long way in assisting the affected students.”
A student representative at Kwekwe Polytechnic, Miss Viola Ramunyenyewa, welcomed the donation, saying it would go a long way in assisting students who had lost their belongings.
“We are happy to receive this generous donation. We also request that you assist us to obtain new identity documents and national certificates that were destroyed in the fire,” said Miss Ramunyenyewa.
She said they were also receiving support from the institution and other stakeholders as efforts continued to help them recover from the loss.
