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Minister Mutsvangwa

Samantha Chigogo Herald Reporter
Government has secured a $250 million credit facility from Indian Bank (EXIM Bank) for the construction of 10 memorial hospitals for war veterans. The hospitals will be constructed in the country’s 10 provinces and are meant to improve the welfare of war veterans, collaborators, detainees and other groups who took part in the country’s liberation struggle.

The Minister of Welfare Services for the War Veterans, War Collaborators, Former Political Detainees and Restrictees Ambassador Christopher Mutsvangwa, yesterday said Government had received help from Indian partners keen to invest in the country’s health system.

“Funds to build the hospitals and promote a new health delivery service system nationwide were acquired from a buyer’s credit facility with EXIM Bank of friendly and rapidly growing India,” he said.

“This initiative will be rolled progressively in all 10 provinces with Harare, Bulawayo set to be the flagship of the project whilst Victoria Falls will have its separate exclusive medical tourism hospital.’’

Minister Mutsvangwa said viability would be enhanced as the expertise that had been drawing patients to India would eventually be offered within the country.

“Several Zimbabwean patients have been flooding India for a well-managed health care system, which can be expensive, but with the Indian firm set to manage the construction and refurbishment of the memorial hospitals, travel expenses to India will be cut down,” he said.

He said the project received solid backing from President Mugabe who lauded the initiative as it would enable the nation to address the distinct medical field of wartime wounds, post war trauma, effects of chemical and biological poisoning and napalm bombing.

Minister Mutsvangwa said the hospitals would be built by Shapoorji Pallonji, a Mumbai based civil contractor who is a top tier Indian company with the largest shareholder in the famed Tata group.

“The Ministry of Finance has embraced the project and it is prepared to go out of its way to ensure that Shapoorji Pallonji meets the 2018 deadline,” he said.

“We are also in talks with reputable Indian and other global partners to manage the hospitals and ensure international standards are upraised at these projects.”

War veterans and all their wartime allies remain the greatest visionaries for the country.