Chronicle Editor
Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Gwanda Correspondent
PRETORIA Portland Cement (PPC) Zimbabwe Collen Bawn Factory and How Mine have partnered the Gwanda District Taskforce on Covid-19 in renovating two isolation centres in the district to ensure they meet the set standards.
PPC is set to renovate an isolation centre at Gwanda Provincial Hospital while How Mine will renovate an isolation centre at Joshua Mqabuko Polytechnic College.
Responding to questions sent on email, PPC Collen Bawn general manager Mr Ngangwezwe Khumalo said as part of their corporate social responsibility, the mine had partnered the Gwanda District Taskforce on Covid-19 in a bid to curb the spread of the virus.
“In response to a plea from the Gwanda District Covid-19 co-ordination team, PPC Colleen Bawn will assist Gwanda Provincial Hospital by renovating its old Eye Unit which is now the designated isolation unit. The idea is to ensure this unit meets all the minimum standards requirements for an isolation centre. We are also focusing on refurbishing the incinerator, which is an essential disposal equipment to control the spread of diseases including Covid- 19,” he said.
“PPC Zimbabwe Limited understands that corporate social investment is key in its operations. As PPC Colleen Bawn factory, we also joined hands with Nust by procuring raw materials to produce hand sanitisers for donation to Gwanda Provincial Hospital to fight Covid-19. PPC procured 100 litres of ethanol AR, 50 litres of glycerine AR as well as 10 litres of hydrogen peroxide AR with Nust converting the materials into sanitisers.”
Mr Khumalo said they had also distributed pamphlets to the community focusing on key issues that people need to know about Covid-19. He said they also partnered with the Municipality of Gwanda in disinfecting the town.
In an interview, How Mine operations director, Mr Elton Gwatidzo said they were set to renovate an isolation centre which had been identified at Joshua Mqabuko Polytechnic.
He said they had also donated fuel to the province earmarked for conducting awareness campaigns.
How Mine also donated 100 litres of hand sanitisers and 1 000 re-usable face masks to Gwanda Provincial Hospital. Mr Gwatidzo handed over the consignment to Matabeleland South acting Provincial Development Co-ordinator, Ms Sithandiwe Ncube on Thursday.
He said they had also handed over a similar donation to Ekusileni Hospital.
Meanwhile, Blanket Mine has donated $16 million to Government to help in the fight against Covid-19.
Blanket Mine general manager Mr Caxton Mangezi said they first released $8 million to Government at end of March and released a further $8 million this month.
“Blanket Mine has donated $16 million to the Government towards the fight against Covid-19. We released the first tranche in March while the second was released this month. We have undertaken other initiatives to curb the spread of Covid-19. We donated fuel to various government departments to enable them to reach out to communities for awareness campaigns and we also donated PPEs to use during Gwanda Town disinfection exercise,” he said.
“We are in the process of liaising with the Ministry of Health officials in Gwanda and the DA’s office with a view to assist in purchasing PPEs, sanitisers and fuel for transport. We are yet to receive bill of quantities from the respective authorities.”
Mr Mangezi said they had also conducted awareness campaigns in communities around the mine. — @DubeMatutu
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