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Bulawayo Bureau

Five hospitals in Matabeleland yesterday received 2 000 tonnes of coal donated by President Mnangagwa for cooking and other hospital operations.

Beneficiaries include Mpilo Central Hospital, which received 800 tonnes, Victoria Falls Hospital 400 tonnes, St Luke’s Hospital got 400 tonnes, United Bulawayo Hospitals and Ingutsheni Central Hospital received 200 tonnes each. The donation was made during the President’s two-day visit to Matabeleland North province recently.

Speaking on behalf of the President before handing over coal to Mpilo yesterday, Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs Minister Richard Moyo said the donation would go a long way in improving service delivery at health institutions especially in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It is my hope that this gesture by His Excellency President Emmerson Mnangagwa is an assurance of the commitment by the New Dispensation to see efficiency in the health service delivery. I call upon all of us to take our collective responsibilities as hard-working people to achieve that,” said Minister Moyo.

Mpilo acting chief executive officer, Professor Solwayo Ngwenya, said the donation had helped the public institution cut a lot of costs.

“Coal is quite a vital component of our function as a hospital and this will last us for the whole year. Coal is a life-saving commodity and we are grateful as we used to buy it from afar, we have been saved by the President.

“Coal is vital in our operation as we use it for cooking, heating and running our laundry that we use for emergency operations. So, without coal the hospital can be crippled, operations can be suspended putting lives of people at risk hence coal is a vital commodity,” said Prof Ngwenya.