Gideon Gono's team from the Reserve Bank has encountered
stiff resistance from angry Zimbabweans living in the UK who are opposed to
the 'Homelink' scheme to send money back home. The Reserve Bank team that has
been travelling the world trying to convince Zimbabweans to send their money
home through government channels was greeted by an angry and unsympathetic
crowd in London this past weekend. From the moment they arrived at the
Zimbabwe Embassy on Saturday it was clear that former ZBC journalist
Supa Mandiwanzira and Reserve Bank chairman Gideon Gono were not welcomed at
all by their own people. Mandiwanzira got the worst of it, particularly
from Zimbabwean women who cornered him, wanting to know just how he got
into finance and why he qualified to be working with The Reserve Bank on such
a high level. The police had to interfere when a group of angry women
took away the camera that Mandiwanzira and his crew were using to film the
angry mob. The women accused him of representing a government that did not
allow free and independent media. It was only when the police intervened
that Mandiwanzira got his camera back and managed to go into the meeting
inside Zimbabwe House. What made people even more angry was that the team did
not answer any questions from critics of Mugabe.
London is not the
only city in the UK where the Reserve Bank delegation had a tough time. In
Luton about 60km north of London, scores of MDC activists disrupted their
meeting on Friday evening forcing them to make a hasty retreat. MDC
chairwoman for the UK district Suzeet Kwenda told newsreel that most people
who attended the meeting had been duped to believe that they had been invited
to a party, to celebrate the opening of a pub owned by a Zimbabwean. In
Birmingham, about 2 hours from London, Gono and his team appeared at the
Crowne Plaza Hotel in the city centre yesterday. They were greeted by at
least 300 Zimbabweans jeering and holding placards. Just as he did in London,
Gono refused to answer questions on human rights and the breakdown of law in
Zimbabwe. He said he would act as a messenger and take some of the views back
home. Meanwhile, Michael Howard, the leader of the British Conservative Party
asked the UK Government why Gono had been allowed into the country. Many feel
that Gono should be subject to the same travel restrictions as the rest of
the Mugabe regime.
A visit to Zimbabwe scheduled
for Tuesday by James Morris, the United Nation's top food aid official, has
been called off, UN officials said, in a sign of worsening relations between
President Robert Mugabe's government and the world body.
James Morris,
executive director of the World Food Programme, had Zimbabwe on his itinerary
for a visit arranged months ago to five Southern African countries, but a UN
spokesperson in Harare said on Tuesday the visit had been
"postponed".
"Unfortunately, due to a cabinet meeting, no government
officials are likely to be able to meet with the special envoy," the
spokesperson said.
Meetings with "key government representatives" were an
essential part of its consultations in Zimbabwe. Morris, also UN
secretary-general Kofi Annan's special humanitarian envoy to Southern Africa,
would be going to Malawi on Tuesday instead.
"It's a deliberate snub,"
said a Western diplomat. "Zimbabwe had agreed to the visit, and Morris was
set down to see Mugabe. Late last week, they changed their minds."
The
calling off of Morris' visit occurred amid controversy over the government's
refusal to allow UN famine relief operations to continue for the third year
in a row this year, despite widespread forecasts that crop output would again
fall far below the volume needed to feed the country's 12-million
people.
Last month, Mugabe said the UN was "foisting" food on the
country.
"We are not hungry," he said. "We don't want to be
choked."
Since 2002, the United Nations has helped avert massive
starvation as it delivered food to up to five million people at a time.
Zimbabwe was Africa's second biggest food producer, after South Africa, until
2000 when the country's agricultural industry began to collapse as a result
of the illegal, violent state seizure of nearly all of the highly
productive farmland owned by white farmers. - Sapa-DPA
Grace Mugabe,
wife of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, is staying in one of Cape Town's
top hotels on a private visit.
This was confirmed by the Zimbabwean
ambassador to South Africa and staff at the exclusive Arabella Sheraton on
the Foreshore, who said she had been staying at the hotel since last
Friday.
The ambassador, Simon Khaya Moyo, said Mugabe's wife was on a
private visit.
She was not in the city on any mission related to the
Southern African Development Community (SADC) or on any official business of
the Zimbabwean government, he said.
Moyo could also not confirm
whether Grace Mugabe was in Cape Town on a shopping excursion.
"I have
been informed that she is in the country on a private visit, and private
visits are personal matters," Moyo said.
Informed that the ageing
Zimbabwean leader's wife had booked into the hotel under an assumed name, and
asked whether specific security arrangements had been made on the South
African side, the ambassador merely said that "security is not an
issue".
Moyo refused any further comment on the matter and staff at the
Zimbawean Embassy refused to confirm whether she had in fact entered the
country under the assumed name.
Meanwhile, staff members at the
exclusive five-star luxury hotel said they had seen Mugabe at the hotel, and
suggested that she might be resident in one of the Tower Clubs rooms on the
16th, 17th and 18th floors.
The rates for the rooms are almost R3 000 a
night.
However, following its strict policy on confidentiality, officials
of the Arabella refused to confirm either her residency or the exact name
under which the Zimbawean VIP was booked into the
establishment.
Department of foreign affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa
told the Cape Argus he was not aware that Grace Mugabe was in the
country.
The Zimbabwean leader's wife has been intensely criticised for
shopping spre es in European capitals and also for expensive cross-border
shopping expeditions to Johannesburg.
At a time when the Zimbabwe
dollar has been severely devalued, Grace Mugabe is reported to have spent
large sums on high-priced luxury items.
A year ago she is said to have
spent R100 000 over two days during a visit to Johannesburg.
.. This article was originally published on page 1 of The Cape Argus on June
15, 2004
HARARE - Zimbabwe
has launched a campaign to attract tourists from China and other Asian
countries, planning promotional tours in Asia and training courses in
language and even Chinese cooking here.
Zimbabwe's tourism industry, once
a major source of hard currency earnings, is shrinking as travellers from
Australia and Europe, in particular from former colonial ruler Britain, are
staying away from the southern African country.
As part of the shift
to the East, Tourism Minister Francis Nhema travelled to China at the weekend
to sign an agreement with Beijing granting Zimbabwe approved destination
status which the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) says should "open the
floodgates for Chinese visitors."
"China is recognised to be growing very
fast both in terms of it generating tourist traffic and in terms of its being
a destination," said ZTA spokesman Givemore Chidzidzi.
"There is a
realisation that it is a vast country with a huge population. Tourism there
is well structured, they travel in groups, they don't just travel anywhere,
they travel to those destinations that have been approved," he
said.
Promotional shows are due to take place later this year in China,
Hong Kong and Malaysia, among other Asian countries and tourism attaches have
been appointed to embassies in the region.
Zimbabwe is also
introducing language training programmes so that it can welcome the influx of
Chinese visitors with Mandarin speakers.
"There is no way you can satisfy
your customer if you cannot speak their language," Chidzidzi
said.
"These people don't speak English and we don't expect them to speak
English, but they still want to come here. Now it's for us to satisfy our
customer.
"We are working on ways to make sure that our industry, and our
frontline staff in general, are ready for that," he told AFP.
Training
in Chinese cuisine is also on the cards.
In addition, to improve access
to Zimbabwe, the country's national airline is exploring the possibility of
introducing direct flights to selected Asian destinations.
Zimbabwe
boasts one of the world's most spectacular natural wonders, Victoria Falls, a
UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as big game reserves.
But tourists
have been staying away from Zimbabwe since an economic and political crisis
unleashed in 2000 with controversial elections and the land reform program in
which white farms were seized and given to landless blacks.
The
government blames the slump on negative reporting by international media,
tarnishing Zimbabwe's image as an appealing destination.
Annual earnings
from the tourism industry dropped from USD144.6 million (E120 million) in
1995 to USD44.1 million last year. according to
official figures.
Private industry official say income from tourism
fell from USD700 million in 1999 to USD71 million in 2003.
At its
peak, tourism - notably the falls and the game reserves - brought in about
12.5% of Zimbabwe's gross domestic product (GDP) and employed 4.5% of the
labour force.
Asia last year was the biggest growth market for tourists,
with 40% more foreign travellers coming to Zimbabwe than in 2003, mostly from
China, India and Japan.
Nearly 41,000 Asian tourists visited Zimbabwe
last year, up from 29,075 in 2002.
A special tourism police unit has
also been set up to increase the safety of tourists at all
destinations.
Zimbabwe couple attacked by racist gangs in
Scotland
By Staff Reporter Last updated: 06/16/2004 00:54:33 FIVE
Zimbabwean men were hospitalised after a racist gang attack outside a city
centre pub in the Scottish city of Edinburgh in the United
Kingdom.
Police were called to the incident in George Street which
started after a gang of white men began taunting a black
couple.
Zimbabwean Brian Chitemere, who suffered a dislocated elbow in
the incident, today said the attack was "terrifying".
The 30-year-old
staff nurse had been enjoying an evening out with his wife, Memory, 27, and
companions, including his two brothers, in the Standing Order when trouble
started shortly after 10pm on Saturday.
Mr Chitemere, who moved to the
city from London seven years ago and was born in Zimbabwe, said his brother
Gary left the pub with his girlfriend to catch the bus home when they were
approached by five men.
According to Mr Chitemere, the group began
racially abusing the couple and intimidating them with physical threats and
slow hand claps.
"I was sitting in the pub with my friends when my
brother's girlfriend came running in," he said.
"She was crying,
saying that a gang of guys was beating up Gary. They were calling them
'f****** niggers' and telling them to 'f****** get out of town' .
"I
ran out to help him and I found there were about 20 guys there and
they started punching me and my friends. I fell on the ground, and they just
kept beating me, even when I pleaded for somebody to call an ambulance for
me. It was then that the police came and stopped it, and started taking
statements from me.
"I told them what had happened, but the crowd of
guys were still hanging around making racist comments."
All five men -
Farai Madada, Alvin, Gary, and Brian Chitemere, and Tapiwa Matipano -
sustained bruising and swelling as a consequence of the attack and received
treatment at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. But nobody has been arrested in
connection with the incident.
Mr Chitemere, from Muirhouse, has been
forced to take unpaid time off work at a city nursing home as his arm has
been set in plaster as a result of his injuries.
"I'm in a lot of
pain, and I'm having to receive more treatment for the injury," he said.
"I've never been involved in any sort of fights in the past or in any police
business. It was terrible.
"I was so scared, even now I am still shaking
about it."
Mrs Chitemere was similarly outraged by the attack.
"I
think it's appalling what has happened," she said. "I never thought I'd see
the day where I'd have to think twice about coming into the centre
of Edinburgh in the evening. It's just disgusting."
A police spokesman
confirmed that an incident occurred outside the pub on Saturday night. "When
officers arrived at the scene, they found an estimated 20 people involved in
the incident," he said.
"There was a large group of men and women
standing around outside the pub in question. Allegations of an assault were
made, but due to the number of people involved and the fact that several of
them had been drinking, establishing exactly what had happened was not
possible.
"As with any incident of this nature, officers will be carrying
out further inquiries to find out what happened. Anyone who may have
witnessed the incident in George Street is asked to contact the
police."
A Commission for Racial Equality spokesman added: "We are
shocked at the horrific nature of this crime. We expect the police will be
investigating all avenues so that the perpetrators are brought to justice. If
there is a racial element to this offence it is important that it is
thoroughly investigated and properly handled."
In March, an Asian
cricketer was the subject of a racially motivated attack in front of his two
children.
The 38-year-old man was walking in from training in Inverleith
Park when he was set upon by three teenagers who were shouting racist
abuse.
As a result of the attack he suffered a broken nose and bruising
to his face.
[ This report does not
necessarily reflect the views of the United
Nations]
JOHANNESBURG, 15 Jun 2004 (IRIN) - More children in
Zimbabwe's cities are going hungry, according to a UN Children's Fund
(UNICEF) study examining nutrition in Southern Africa.
"Malnutrition
levels in Harare [the Zimbabwean capital] have doubled over the past four
years and significantly worsened in Bulawayo [the second city]," according to
UNICEF's nutrition and health officer, Claudia Hudspeth, who conducted the
study.
She noted that the "high levels of severe acute malnutrition,
warranting immediate and urgent action", were causing particular concern. At
least one-quarter of districts in Zimbabwe had high levels of severe
acute malnutrition in children aged under five, while in one-third of
all districts the mortality rates were approaching "emergency"
levels.
According to the World Food Programme (WFP), 5.5 million of
Zimbabwe's total population of 11.6 million were at risk of food shortages up
to the last harvest. WFP has continued targeted food distribution to
vulnerable communities across the country.
In Malawi half the children
suffered from stunting - one of the highest levels in the world - and the
country has continued to record progressive deterioration in child nutrition.
Micronutrient deficiencies were also extremely high, with half the child
population suffering from Vitamin A deficiency, said the study.
While
large-scale deterioration in child nutrition had been prevented
in neighbouring Mozambique after an intensive humanitarian response to the
food crisis over the past few years, a high HIV/AIDS prevalence in six
provinces had increased vulnerability - almost 16 percent of these households
had at least one orphan aged under 15 as a result of AIDS.
Swaziland
had one of the lowest rates of child malnutrition in the region, with 12
percent of its child population underweight and 31 percent stunted. However,
Hudspeth pointed out that due to the high HIV/AIDS prevalence rate [30 to 40
percent] in Swaziland and Lesotho, UNICEF expected child malnutrition to
worsen in both countries over the long term.
"Across the region, HIV/AIDS
is the single largest threat to child nutrition. New highly vulnerable groups
are emerging: orphans, households with very high dependencies due to chronic
sickness, death of productive adults, migrant- and single-parent households,
and child-headed households, which need particular attention," Hudspeth
stressed.
In response, UNICEF and WFP have launched several large
supplementary feeding programmes in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi,
including community-based therapeutic feeding models.
POST-INDEPENDENCE
gains in reproductive health could soon be eroded owing to prohibitive costs
of maternity services in most health institutions throughout the
country.
The Government, soon after independence sought to address the
issue of safe motherhood and family planning, which are some of the major
elements in the reduction of infant mortality rate.
This resulted in
the construction of maternity wings at all major hospitals, provision of
drugs and recruitment of well-trained midwives to complement existing health
professionals.
Governments effort was embraced by the private sector and
donor community, which immediately provided both funding and equipment to
augment the existing infrastructure.
At one time, the Government even
abolished maternity fees at all health institutions, except central
hospitals, to reaffirm its commitment to safe motherhood.
However, the
last 10 years have witnessed a fall in standards at most
health institutions.
Reduced fiscal allocation to health coupled with
the effects of HIV and Aids are some of the problems that have strained the
health delivery system in the country.
Vulnerable groups were left
unprotected.
These are the very same people who have been pushed against
the wall as maternity charges continue to rise, until they have become every
womans nightmare.
The countrys major referral hospitals - Parirenyatwa
and Harare Central - maternity wings now demand a deposit of up to $580 000,
a delivery fee of $55 000 and charge $55 000 per day for post-delivery
care.
In addition, gynaecologists require pregnant mothers to pay an
initial deposit of up to $1,5 million.
Inflation has forced both
private and public medical institutions to increase their fees to cushion
themselves against rising prices and also to enhance their income
base.
Recently, private medical institutions increased their fees by up
to 100 percent, pushing health services beyond the reach of
many.
Belvedere Maternity Home now requires an initial deposit of $1,4
million, for "normal" delivery, a lodging fee of $300 000 a night, bed only.
Food is charged on a meal-by-meal basis.
For a Caesarean operation, a
patient has to cough up $5,2 million in addition to paying for the prescribed
drugs.
Harares Baines Avenue Clinic increased its deposit for maternity
cases from $800 000 to $1,6 million, excluding lodgings, drugs and
food.
Gynaecologists charge an initial $1,5 million for consultation,
demand a top-up after 36 weeks of pregnancy, up to $4 million for a
Caesarean operation, and $1 million for a "normal" delivery.
Patients
are also required to pay for their drugs.
In Harare, the cheapest
maternity health services are offered by City Health clinics, which charge up
to $80 000 for normal deliveries. Patients with complicated cases are
referred to major hospitals.
"Even if you pay $27 000 or the new rate of
$80 000, you still have to buy cotton wool, spirit, maternity pads, drugs and
other requirements," says Mrs Chenai Gumbo, cradling her newly-born
baby.
"Without money, you get no service. You can even die."
She
said many women had resorted to telling lies about their pregnancies
to nursing staff to avoid being referred to major hospitals, whose fees
they cannot afford.
"Unotonyepa kuti inhumbu yekutanga kuti
zvikurerukire," she says.
But such hopes are often dashed when nurses
suspect there could be complications during labour.
As patients
continue to fail to pay the stipulated maternity fees, hospital sources say
it is becoming increasingly difficult to recover their money from
defaulters.
Recently 28 mothers and their newly-born babies were detained
at Harare Hospital for failing to pay maternity fees.
The amounts
ranged from $500 000 to millions of dollars. As if to punish them, the women
were not allowed to wear their own clothes until payment was made in
full.
The decision by the hospital sparked an outcry from a number
of organisations, which called for the release of the mothers and their
babies
The action was described as unfair and inhuman, particularly to
the newly-born babies.
Harare Hospital medical superintendent Mr Chris
Tapfumaneyi said the hospital could not let the women go without settling the
fees.
"The hospital has been failing to do a lot of things because
patients deliberately do not want to pay, so we have put in place
restrictive measures such that out of the 28 women, some have paid us
something," he was quoted saying.
He added that following the
introduction of restrictive measures preventing convalescents from going home
without paying, the hospital had recovered 87 percent of its debts.
As
a result of these exorbitant charges some women are now delivering at home,
putting their lives and those of their babies at risk.
The faint-hearted
are forced to go to the rural areas where maternity services are either free
or affordable.
"Some people are now going to some rural hospitals to
evade high medical fees in the city," said a source at Parirenyatwas Mbuya
Nehanda maternity wing.
"Hospitals are tightening their grip on
payments and its increasingly getting difficult for them to get service when
you dont have money."
"Kuita mwana kwavakudhura,"(Child bearing is now
expensive), said the source jokingly. "You now have to think twice about
having a child."
Little wonder many poor expecting mothers are now
relying on traditional midwives to cut costs despite the dangers that go with
it.
But its not only medical fees that are giving expectant mothers a
headache. The cost of babywear has gone through the roof in recent
years.
The cheapest napkins now cost up to $13 000 each, while the more
expensive brands can set a mother back by anything between $17 000 and $30
000. Imported disposable napkins now sell for more than $90 000 and baby
costumes and clothes are going for between $15 000 and $100 000 per item
depending on quality.
The same is true of blankets, shawls, towels and
other woollen accessories whose prices range between $30 000 and $100
000.
Baby baths, toilet seats, water buckets, feeding bowls and other
plastic utensils were selling for between $30 000 and $50 000.
"A new
born child can bring joy to a family even when you are poor," says
an expectant Ms Anna Chidarikire of Harare. "But preparations are a
nightmare. I-maths chaidzo."
She says pressure from husbands and
relatives often forced women to succumb to "unwanted" pregnancies.
She
says she hopes to raise money for her maternity fees by
selling vegetables.
"My husband is not working and Im struggling to
sell vegetables just to survive. I went to the Social Welfare Department, but
its even worse (because) you cant even get assistance there," she
says.
As the cost of motherhood continues to rise, many are wondering how
many mothers would get help from the recently launched social
responsibility programme, under which medical doctors are expected to offer
free treatment to the less privileged.
Says Dr Paul Chimedza of the
Zimbabwe Medical Association: "Zima recognises that the majority of members
of our society cannot afford medical fees, let alone doctors or even clinical
fees.
"We want to reach out to this marginalised group and ensure that
they access high quality treatment free of charge as we believe it is
everyones right to access health care."
Africa continues to face a
rising maternal death toll owing to frequent shortages or lack of
medications, essential supplies and equipment, inadequate blood transfusion
services and inefficient laboratory support services.
Apart from this,
inadequate staffing, shortage of trained personnel, shortages of operating
theatres for obstetric emergencies, poor health management systems,
negligence and poor attitude have all added to the woes.
Africas average
maternal mortality ratio increased from 870 per 100 000 live births in 1990
to 1 000 per 100 000 live births in 2001, according to the World Health
Organisation (WHO).
WHO estimates that almost half of the pregnancy and
childbirth-related deaths recorded annually around the world occur in
Africa.
And there is no doubt that poverty and prohibitive medical fees
in addition to haemorrhage during pregnancy, delivery complications, sepsis,
abortion, pregnancy-related hypertension, malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/Aids
will see Africa continuing to record the highest pregnancy-related deaths in
the years ahead.
A leading health policy expert, Dr Sharon Camp, of
the Alan Guttmacher Institute, in Europe, recently said providing services
for the 200 million women around the globe who need them would cost about
US$3,9 billion but could prevent 1,5 million maternal and infant deaths every
year.
"It has a very long-term development impact," Camp
said.
However, studies have revealed that not many countries are
investing in safe motherhood and reproductive health.
"Our report
makes it clear that the global community can well afford to make the
additional investment needed to close the gap in sexual and
reproductive health."
For Zimbabwe the challenge is to convince every
citizen that reproductive health and safe motherhood is everyones
responsibility.
Zisco Exports Coke As Local Market Remains Starved
The Herald
(Harare)
June 15, 2004 Posted to the web June 15,
2004
Harare
THE Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company and Zimbabwe Power
Company owe Wankie Colliery more than $60 billion amid reports that the
steel-making giant is exporting coke to neighbouring countries while failing
to meet local demand, it has been learnt.
The steel making company is
reported to have been granted a licence by Minerals Marketing Corporation of
Zimbabwe (MMCZ) to export the commodity at a time when it is struggling to
supply domestic markets.
But Ziscosteel managing director Dr Gabriel
Masanga denied that his company was exporting coke but admitted that they
used to sell coke breeze to neighbouring countries.
"We used to export
coke breezes, which is mainly used in foundries, not the actual coke as we
are still struggling to meet local demand," said Dr Masanga.
Efforts
to get a comment from MMCZ corporate communications officer, Mrs Paida
Nyamakanga, were fruitless as she was said to be in a meeting.
Sources in
the company said 30 tonnes of coke were recently exported to Reliance Foundry
in Botswana while a further 5 000 tonnes were also expected to be ferried to
Ore Port in South Africa within the next few weeks.
"The company
(Ziscosteel) has been laying the blame (for its poor production) on the
failure by Wankie Colliery Company to supply adequate coal while on the other
hand exporting the same commodity to neighbouring countries which is rather
strange," said the official.
An official from Reliance Foundry in
Botswana, who identified himself as Mr Dock, confirmed that that they have
been receiving coke supplies from Ziscosteel.
Coal is used in the
production of coke that is mainly used in manufacturing and foundry
industries.
Ziscosteel has been struggling to meet local demand, which it
has attributed to the failure by WCC to supply adequate coal, the key
component used in steel manufacturing.
However, WCC marketing and
public relations manager Mr John Nkala said that coal supplies to Ziscosteel
and Zimbabwe Power Company have been stable in the past six
months.
"The two companies are always given what they would have ordered
and we are optimistic that they are now in a position to meet their
production levels," said Mr Nkala.
He confirmed that the two owed WCC
money but declined to reveal the amount citing customer
confidentiality.
However, figures obtained by The Business Chronicle
indicate that the Ziscosteel debt stands at $8,3 billion while ZPC owes $53
billion.
ZPC is a subsidiary of Zesa Holdings.
A Parliamentary
Committee on Industry and International Trade last year accused Ziscosteel
management of failing to turn around the company and called for the
dissolution of the board of directors and senior management over
non-performance. - Bulawayo Bureau.
PERSISTENT
technical faults at Morton Jaffray Water Treatment Works have prompted Harare
City Council to reintroduce 24-hour water cuts in selected south-eastern
suburbs beginning today.
But Government slammed the move, saying it posed
health dangers for the residents.
The Minister of Health and Child
Welfare, Dr David Parirenyatwa, said intermittent water supplies had the
potential of jeopardising residents' health.
"We expect them to
address the issue with speed and return to normalcy,"
he said.
However, Harare public relations manager Mr Lesley Gwindi
said affected residents should store enough water and use the available water
sparingly.
Most residents of Harare use water-flushed toilets and it is
not every resident who has a container big enough to store water for use
during the course of the entire day.
It, therefore, appears the water
cuts would pose a serious health hazard to the affected residents, with a
significant number resorting to the bush to relieve themselves.
The
water treatment plant has in the past few weeks had numerous breakdowns with
compressors blowing each time they are repaired while some pumps
are down.
Council engineers have been battling to bring them back into
operation with little success as most of the equipment at the plant has
outlived its lifespan.
The affected suburbs are Braeside, Waterfalls,
Eastlea, Park Meadowlands, Hatfield, Cranborne, Mainway Meadows, Msasa,
Hatcliffe, Arcadia, Ruwa, Zimre Park and Epworth.
The cuts are meant
to allow flow to the northern and eastern suburbs, which have had no supplies
for the past two weeks.
Harare director of works Mr Psychology Chiwanga
said in view of the persistent water shortages in the northern and eastern
suburbs there was need to boost pumping to these areas.
"The exercise
will be carried out every other day until the situation improves," he
said.
Water would be cut off today at 0830hrs and restored at 0830hrs
tomorrow.
On Thursday and Friday, water would be cut off at 0900hrs and
restored at 0900hrs the following day.
"This is in order to boost flow
into the reservoirs which feed these areas. The reservoirs cannot gain
significantly as a result of the technical problems we are experiencing at
Morton Jaffray Water Treatment Works," said Mr Chiwanga.
Residents in
the eastern and northern suburbs have been without water since the beginning
of this month with some, especially in Mabvuku and Tafara, resorting to
fetching water from unprotected wells.
In such suburbs as Chisipite, The
Grange, Borrowdale, Hogerty Hill, Philadelphia, Greystone Park and Glen
Lorne, residents are having to rely on neighbours with
boreholes.
However, Epworth, Ruwa and Msasa, which would have water
supplies cut for 24 hours, have been without water over the same
period.
Two months ago the council introduced 24-hour water cuts in the
same areas following similar problems.
The supply of potable water has
been a problem for council for a very long time with Government giving
several ultimatums over the rectification of the situation.
Government
has since appointed a task force headed by educationist Professor Jameson
Kurasha to assist in the delivery of service in the capital city.
The
task force, which started work yesterday, has a 24-month term to complete its
mandate.
Positive impact of food aid measured in Zimbabwe 15 Jun 2004 13:29:00
GMT
C-SAFE (Consortium for the Southern Africa Food Security
Emergency) Website: http://www.c-safe.org Aid agencies are
actively working to ensure food aid in Zimbabwe is reaching beneficiary
target groups, determine how the food is being used and measure impact on
beneficiaries through an expanded practice of End Use Monitoring (EUM),
developed by the USAID funded Consortium for Southern Africa Food Security
Emergency in Zimbabwe.
Employed by C-SAFE members World Vision, CARE and
Catholic Relief Services, the EUM is a quality, beneficiary assessment-based
methodology implemented at more than 50 food distribution points in nine
Zimbabwe districts. Applied over the last six months, the monitoring tool has
provided the C-SAFE program with valuable insights into levels of beneficiary
food stocks, the demographics of targeted vulnerable households and C-SAFE
program delivery.
Through the EUM's expanded use, C-SAFE have been able
to measure the positive impact of food aid on the livelihood status of
beneficiaries, with recipients indicating that food aid has improved their
health and nutritional status; households are engaging in less casual labor
and instead working on their own land; households are selling fewer
productive assets; and orphans are attending school.
To collect the
information, C-SAFE Zimbabwe interviews a random sample of approximately 300
beneficiaries, which include female heads of households, households with
orphans and households with a chronically ill member, plus 100
non-beneficiaries at a C-SAFE food distribution point (FDP) each month. In
each consultation, those interviewed answer questions on the number
of beneficiaries in the household, source of income and main expenses over
the previous month, plus current cereal stocks, as well as satisfaction on
the food registration and distribution processes. They are also given
an opportunity to raise any food aid related concerns.
According to Dr
Jamo Huddle, C-SAFE Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator in Zimbabwe, "The
advantage of the EUM approach is that we receive feedback on a monthly basis.
It also means we speak to a greater number of people over a long period of
time, and build up a large body of information that we can use to improve the
program. Interviewing at an FDP is efficient and timely, and an excellent
opportunity to capture the views of the community when they are gathered at
one place."
Information collected via the EUM has prompted fine-tuning of
C-SAFE's food distribution processes, while providing valuable learning
points for the Consortium. Information on current household food stocks and
sources of income data has been shared with donors to engage them in C-SAFE
programming and validate the scale up of distributions to meet the needs of
targeted beneficiaries. Increasing understanding and verifying the current
needs of households prompted the removal of a cap on maximum number of
household members who could receive rations.
EUM analysis of
beneficiary satisfaction with distance of travel to an FDP resulted in the
dividing and relocation of an FDP to better service those collecting monthly
rations. C-SAFE has also undertaken awareness raising for member
organizations and communities on non-beneficiaries conducting favors to
obtain food aid and promoted understanding around beneficiary
eligibility criteria and ration size. The FDP's help desk function has
been strengthened, with further training and education on its purpose and
role. The inclusion of a suggestion box at the FDP has given community
members the opportunity to voluntarily propose ideas or offer information on
the food aid process.
Dr Huddle is eager to see the system develop
further. "Given the EUM's success, we are going to expand the system to
C-SAFE Food for Work activities in Zimbabwe to measure how food aid is being
used, what the FFW population looks like demographically, and the
participants perception of the FFW process."
WFP has agreed to support
C-SAFE in the collection of data from non-beneficiaries in C-SAFE Zimbabwe
communities, which will be complimentary to the information collected through
EUM, and will provide C-SAFE with an estimate of eligible community members
who have been excluded from receiving food aid (exclusion error). WFP and
C-SAFE have jointly designed a tool for this purpose.
C-SAFE in Zambia
is now replicating the system, using a slightly different methodology
(quarterly survey at the household level). The first survey found that
beneficiaries appreciate the livelihood support brought by C-SAFE food aid
and that they have a good understanding of the registration and distribution
systems in place.
Illegal
traders have taken advantage of the Aids crisis and are
smuggling anti-retrovirals (ARVs) from southern African countries into
Zimbabwe for resale.
"The problem we have now is some of the
cross-border traders who are importing ARVs and selling them to people
without a prescription, and this is dangerous," Dr Christine Chakanyuka,
Zimbabwe's spokesperson for health, reportedly said.
She said the
trade was dangerous, as patients required constant contact with health
professionals to ensure the drugs were working and caused no serious side
effects.
The drugs were available on prescription in Zimbabwe, but were
expensive with the cheapest combination costing about Z$300 000 monthly
(about R370).
According to media reports illegal traders were smuggling
the drugs from countries including South Africa, Botswana and Namibia, where
the drugs were more readily available than Zimbabwe.
Dr Andrew
Jamieson, South African Airways Netcare Travel Clinics director, said the
trade could be expected in South Africa as most patients who were poor may be
tempted to sell the drugs provided by the government.
Jamieson said the
trade would result in complexities as the "stop and start" treatment was
likely to create resistance to the drug.
"With this in mind, special
packaging has been devised in South Africa to minimise on-sale of freely
dispensed ARVs," said Jamieson.
He said drugs provided to patients in
Uganda were also sold on the black market to drug stores in the country. --
Sapa
Internet Service Providers Yet to Agree to Monitor E-Mails
UN
Integrated Regional Information Networks
June 15, 2004 Posted to the
web June 15, 2004
Johannesburg
Zimbabwe's state-owned
telecommunications company, TelOne, has proposed that Internet service
providers (ISPs) monitor all their customers' e-mails, but the ISPs have yet
to agree.
The Zimbabwe Internet Service Providers Association (ZISPA)
told IRIN it was seeking clarity on a proposed amendment to the existing
franchise agreement between TelOne and ZISPA members, but chairman Shadreck
Nkala refused to divulge any details.
An ISP representative confirmed
that the proposed amendment, sent to all ISPs last month, asked them to
monitor all e-mails and take measures to block any "illegal material which
was harmful to the country".
"According to the new amendment we will have
to install a new system, which will store all the e-mails that go through our
system, and then we will have to sift through them. This is an extremely
difficult thing to do," said the representative.
Nkala said none of
ZISPA's members had signed the proposed contract amendment and "there is no
monitoring of any sort of any e-mails at the moment".
The Media
Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) has voiced its concern over any move to
clamp down on internet communications and has called the proposed amendment
"unconstitutional".
MISA spokesperson Raphweat Mukundu pointed out that
"the e-mail is the only remaining viable alternative for the limited voice of
civil society [in Zimbabwe]. It is our only channel of communication, and for
interaction with the outside world. The move will seriously violate our few
remaining rights."
The government of President Robert Mugabe has been
accused by local and international human rights groups of suppressing
perceived opposition.
The country's only private daily newspaper, the
Daily News, which had the largest circulation, was forced to close when it
failed to register with a controversial government-appointed media commission
last year.
----- Original Message ----- From: Julie Farr <cabana@ecoweb.co.zw> To:
<Undisclosed-Recipient:;> Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2004 4:16
PM Subject: Stolen property
15 June 2004 CID Homicide Section,
Harare Central Police Station have recovered quite a lot of stolen property
and arrested suspects. They need people to come forward and try and identify
their stolen property. Please contact me to arrange with Chief Inspector
Ncube a suitable time and day in order for as many people go at one time as
possible. This would assist the CID greatly. The sooner it is done the
better. Some of the items seen this morning include:-
jewellery, mens
and ladies watches, hi fi system, video camera, leather jackets, material
casual jackets (one was a Cropserve khaki jacket ), a heap of kitchen knives,
bags, suitcases and lots else.
Please forward this to all on your mailing
list. Thank you for your co-operation.