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Leonard Ncube in Hwange
BULAWAYO-based Westgate Industrial Training Centre says it has found a solution to water challenges in rural areas after designing a manually operated pump to facilitate water harvesting.

The institution is one of the centres in the country which offer vocational skills training to capacitate disadvantaged youths.

The industrial training centre showcased the hand pump at the recently held Hwange Agricultural Show saying the innovation would help capacitate small-scale and rural farmers especially those under Command Agriculture.

A lecturer at Westgate Industrial Training Centre’s plumbing and drain laying department, Mr George Zande, who is the brains behind the pump, said it can be submerged into any well of any depth and used for small-scale irrigation.

“We have come with a hand pump W100 following communication from the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology that all technical institutions to come up with strategies to uplift rural communities within the 100-day plan that was enunciated by President Mnangagwa early this year,” he said.

Mr Zande urged rural communities to consider the pump which can fill up to 5 000 litre-tanks.

“Our idea is to modernise rural farmers especially those under the Command Agriculture programme where water challenges can disadvantage their activities.

“The pump allows them to draw water from any depth at their wells and fill up tanks for household and small-scale irrigation purposes.

“We thought we should showcase it here (Whange Agriculture Show) because this is a platform for rural farmers,” he said.

The hand pump is a two valve which uses pressure to draw water from any depth in a well.

Due to the pressure the pump exerts, water can be pumped into a tank as high as five metres.

Mr Zande said quotations for the pump were available from the industrial training centre and if a deal is sealed, the institution installs the equipment.

Another lecturer in the automotive department Mrs Irene Masamba said the invention was a positive development as it empowers youths.

“We are a training college and we don’t want to run away from our mandate which is to upgrade semi skilled youths because no child is useless as long as he or she can read and write,” she said.

Mrs Masamba said the institution was getting recognition as most of its students were employed across the country. — @ncubeleon.