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Michael Magoronga, [email protected]

THE Government has started the construction of a new block of flats for Kwekwe General Hospital doctors whose accommodation was destroyed by fire three years ago.

The doctor’s residence built in 1952, caught fire in June 2021 due to an electrical fault, destroying property and rendering the accommodation irreparable.

A Chronicle news crew visited the construction site where a team of engineers was busy with preliminary work in preparation for digging the foundation.

Material including quarry stones, gravel, bricks, and river sand are already on site.

Site foreman, Staff Sergeant Innocent Monokore told a Kwekwe District Civil Protection Unit delegation that the building will accommodate a total of 24 families with six families on each floor.

He said the material they had in place was only able to take them to slab level and pleaded with authorities to unveil more resources so that the work could be completed as quickly as possible.

“We have material that can only do the slab and from there we are supposed to construct the superstructure, we will need more material. We are calling upon relevant authorities to ensure that resources are available so that once we start working, we will not stop,’ he said.

The Zimbabwe National Army and Ministry of Public Works are spearheading the construction with assistance from Kwekwe Polytechnic, Kwekwe City, Redcliff Municipality, and Zibagwe Rural District Council among other institutions.

Kwekwe General Hospital’s medical superintendent, Dr Patricia Mapanda said the new structure will go a long way in solving the issue of accommodation which has been a perennial challenge at the institution.

“We have been facing the challenge for a long time and we are grateful to the mining community and business community which helped us by offering us accommodation after the fire incident. It is our hope that upon completion, the building will bring lasting solutions to the perennial accommodation problem,” she said.