Chronicle Editor
Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
THE Zimbabwe Christian Alliance (ZCA)has committed US$70 000 to support the operational capacity at isolation and quarantine centres in Matabeleland North, Bulawayo, Matabeleland South provinces.
The move is aimed at boosting the capacity of the Government to test and quarantine travellers when land borders gradually open in the first week of December.
On Tuesday, Cabinet resolved that the opening of border posts be phased, beginning with Beitbridge, Plumtree, Victoria Falls, Chirundu, Nyamapanda and Forbes.
The borders will open first to private passenger vehicles and pedestrian traffic as from December 1, 2020, while further assessment is undertaken with regard to preparations for handling public passenger transport.
ZCA chief executive officer Reverend Useni Sibanda said their initiative was being done in phases with more focus being put on water and sanitation, sanitary wear for women, hygiene and bedding.
He said they had also agreed in principle with the Department of Social Services to offer psycho-social support for frontline workers manning the various quarantine centres.
Rev Sibanda said the frontline workers have been working tirelessly since the beginning of the lockdown in April hence they need maximum support.
He was speaking during the handover of an assortment of goods to the National Social Security Authority isolation and quarantine centre in Beitbridge yesterday.
“We have noticed that there is a second wave of new Covid-19 infections globally and that Beitbridge being one of the major international borders will need more support to contain the pandemic,” said Rev Sibanda.
“So as part of our efforts to complement what the Government and other players are doing we have committed US$70 000 to cover equipment being distributed at quarantine and isolation centres in Beitbridge, Plumtree, Bulawayo and Lupane”.
He said they had committed a huge investment of the aid to the Beitbridge quarantine centre which has handled over 10 000 Zimbabweans returning from Eswatini, Lesotho and South Africa.
Rev Sibanda said they had donated water tanks, which will operate on solarised boreholes to enhance issues of water and sanitation.
He said a constant supply of water was critical in the fight against the global pandemic and that some quarantine centres were having challenges with water supplies in the event of power cuts.
“For the Beitbridge isolation and quarantine centre, we have sourced a 5 000-litre water tank to operate with solar borehole, 35 single beds (which can easily be cleaned), 95 buckets for bathing, and 10 buckets with taps for hand washing, 60 blankets, and 300 sanitary pads.
“We have also brought an assortment of all-purpose cleaners, gloves, sanitisers, knapsack sprayers, infrared thermometers, bathing soap, toothpaste, and Vaseline among other things,” said Rev Sibanda.
He said they will bring the second batch of a similar consignment to the Beitbridge Quarantine Centre which is also handling transit traffic to other Sadc countries.
Chronicle understands that in the last five months, a total of 5 000 Malawians and Zambians have passed through Beitbridge under that Government assisted programmes en-route to their countries.
Beitbridge’s Reception and Support Centre superintendent, Ms Nobuhle Ncube said the donation will go a long way in addressing some of their operational challenges and that they had handled 10 700 people since the beginning of April.
“We welcome this gesture by the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance. This is a major boost to our operational capacity considering that we run an isolation, quarantine and transit centre at one place.
“We have had challenges with water supplies during power cuts and are also thin on human resources and hence we have agreed on rolling out a psycho-social support for the frontline workers here,” she said.
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