…Stanbic Bank donates to Mutare Infectious Disease Hospital

Ngoni Dapira

FOR effective and timely response to service delivery the local authority needs a multi-stakeholder approach and must be prioritized on fuel disbursements, City of Mutare town clerk has said.

City of Mutare town clerk Joshua Maligwa said this on Wednesday in an interview during the donation handover of covid-19 protective wear by Stanbic Bank to the local authority. Stanbic Bank in its response to the national covid-19 pandemic has committed US$200 000 for the purchase of personal protective equipment (PPEs), ventilators, covid-19 PCR test kits which will be disbursed to various health institutions countrywide.The bank said it will also do two borehole projects in Harare and Bulawayo.

Maligwa said this in response to a question on complaints of delayed response by the local authority to reports of faults. This week the local authority posted on its Facebook page and on various WhatsApp groups that it could not carry out certain tasks due to failure to get fuel.

“At times our delayed response time to faults is because of transport and fuel. Our appeal to government is for us as local authorities to be able to get fuel supplies regularly. We are not being given first priority in terms of fuel supply and this is a grave concern for us to effectively ensure service delivery,” said Maligwa.

He applauded the donation by Stanbic bank as key to cushioning them to ensure the protection of its frontline workers who are at risk to covid-19, especially now when Manicaland recently recorded its first covid-19 positive cases. As of yesterday (Thursday) Zimbabwe now has 237 coronavirus cases, four deaths and 31 recoveries. Manicaland has eight confirmed cases with the majority being returnees who are in various quarantine centres in the city.

“We still need further funding for the MIDH (Mutare Infectious Disease Hospital) project which is 60 percent in terms of completion as we still need to ensure that we buy all the internal equipment and materials for the hospital,” said the Mutare town clerk.

Stanbic bank Mutare manager Lincoln Mhlanga said the donation is their appreciation of the role played by frontline workers to help combat the global pandemic in the country. “There are many frontline workers and we appreciate their efforts, but today we are here to support the medical frontline workers who can in no way escape and avoid this war as they are the backbone of the survival of our people even in times when we are not in times of crisis…Our healthcare workers cannot function without the personal protective equipment and we appreciate the risk involved when discharging their duties,” said Mhlanga.

To the Mutare Infectious Disease Hospital, Stanbic bank donated 300 protective suits, 2250 surgical masks, 75 face shields, 450 N95 masks, 3000 gloves and 300 goggles. In other provinces Mhlanga said they have donated PPEs to Wilkins and St Annes Hospital in Harare, Gweru Provincial Hospital, Masvingo Provincial Hospital and Thorngrove Hospital in Bulawayo. The bank is also in the process of drilling two boreholes, one in Cowdray Park in Bulawayo and the other in Glen Norah C in Harare.

“As our teams go around the country handing over these goods, we would like to take the opportunity to applaud our healthcare workers and encourage them to keep the work going,” said Mhlanga.

Some of the City of Mutare executive and Stanbic Bank staff with the various donated goods.

Mutare Mayor Blessing Tandi appreciated the timely donation by the bank as the local authority has been reaching out to the private sector for assistance to complete the MIDH project to prepare for the covid-19 pandemic in the province and be able to effectively treat covid-19 patients locally. He added that they have increased vigilance as a local authority ever-since the first covid-19 positive cases were detected in the city last week.

”Covid-19 impact is now on increase in the city following cases of returnees who were discovered to be positive. So it means we as a city need to be on high alert to ensure that our citizenry is safe and up the gear on preventive measures. Operations of council are actually now at peak especially now when we want to ensure that there is high and maximum protection of our citizens from covid-19 at the same time trying to ensure service delivery,” said Mayor Tandi.

The Victoria Chitepo Provincial Hospital formerly called Mutare Provincial Hospital (MPH) and MIDH were designated as two main isolation centres for Covid-19 treatment in Mutare. The City of Mutare is in charge of MIDH, Dangamvura Poly Clinic, Sakubva Outpatients, Sakubva Health Centre, City Health Centre, Florida Clinic and the Chikanga Clinic.

Government disbursed $12 million to the City of Mutare towards the upgrading of the MIDH to help the facility meet standards of a covid-19 isolation centre. The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) Manicaland chapter through its members also contributed with cash and resources towards the refurbishment of the centre.

The City of Mutare recently transferred the rehabilitation of the MIDH to the Ministry of Health and Child Care to ensure a coordinated approach in the fight against covid-19. The medical facility is now under the total management of government.

Mayor Tandi however said to fully transform the facility and equip it with relevant equipment for infectious disease control, more money was still needed as they have already exhausted the money from Government. He thanked Stanbic Bank for the donation as stepping stone to attract more support from the private sector.

“We need more funds to construct a mortuary, incinerator and administration block,” he said.