adminDalphine Tagwireyi Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority on Friday received a timely donation of two mobile grandstands and a sporting kit from Belmont Electrical in Bulawayo.The authority spokesperson, Caroline Washaya-Moyo said the gesture came at a time the authority was keen on re-introducing the Director-General’s tournament which had been in the doldrums for almost two years.
“We at national parks are excited about this development because the tournament has various sporting disciplines which include shooting, netball, football, volleyball, we also want to introduce swimming because the rangers work around dams and rivers,” said Washaya-Moyo.
The tournament, which is usually staged in the last quarter of the year, attracts the country’s four regions, namely Northern, Southern, Central and Western with rangers from all parks and historical monuments in the country converging to compete and socialise.
Washaya-Moyo appealed to the corporate sector to come on board and assist the authority with at least $50 000 to host the tournament. She said financial challenges had frozen the running of the tournament.
“The tournament was introduced as a way of allowing Zimbabweans to see the human side of rangers because they spend most of their time in the bush interacting with wildlife, and it is also meant to keep the rangers in good athletic form and healthy,” said Washaya-Moyo.
The grandstands would be installed at Maleme Dam in Matopo National Park, where the parks want to create an artificial beach where beach volleyball will be played both by visitors and game rangers.
Belmont Electrical managing director Tony Richards said the donation was part of the Bulawayo firm’s corporate social responsibility as while wildlife needed to be protected, the rangers needed to be thanked for the sterling job they were doing.
“It is important for the rangers to engage in sporting activities so that they stay fit so that they can protect our wildlife especially the endangered ones, hence our commitment to assisting the authority in developing their sporting fraternity,” said Richards.
Bongani Ndlovu