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Judge Jarachara

THE Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) handed over a classroom block to Watershed Primary School in Mangwe District last Friday which was constructed through the civil-military partnership.

The School Development Committee and the Rural District Council provided building materials while the army constructed the block.

The block is expected to ease infrastructure challenges faced by learners at the school.

It is one of the numerous projects carried out as the Government makes strides in ensuring that educational goals are realised in line with Vision 2030.

ZNA Chief of Staff Quartermaster Staff Major General Hlanganani Dube handed over the building and parents of learners who attend Watershed Primary School could not hold their joy.

The new block will see pupils moving from tents and traditional grass thatched classrooms into standard modern classrooms.

Speaking during the handover ceremony, Maj-Gen Dube said the army provided the labour after the school engaged it.

“We understand the central role that education plays in the national security matrix.

The ZNA then mobilised army engineer and artisans from One Infantry Brigade engineering regiment to construct the block and the construction started on 18 June 2019.

One Infantry Brigade services communities in Matabeleland region and its major vehicle for undertaking construction projects is One Engineers Squadron which has engineers and artisans qualified in various fields,” said Maj-Gen Dube.

He said the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) has a constitutional obligation to defend the country’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and various national interests and partaking in such projects is part of civil-military engagements.

“This role is undertaken by the army to support Government ministries and other Government institutions to maintain essential services in times of disasters or it could be any support that the communities can request from the military,” he said.

Maj-Gen Dube said the Zimbabwe Defence Forces is undertaking several construction projects around the country and One Infantry Brigade is running projects under its Tactical Area of Responsibility which is Bulawayo and Matabeleland region including the major rehabilitation of Mpilo Central Hospital which was gutted by fire.

Matabeleland South Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Abedinico Ncube, represented by the provincial secretary Mrs Latiso Dlamini Maseko, applauded the army for responding to community needs.

“This handover could not have been carried out at a more appropriate time than this week when we celebrate the Defence Forces week. The ZDF brought their skilled professionals resulting in the construction of this classroom block.

Labour was provided fully as part of  their community outreach response.

I’m honestly humbled by this gesture,” said Minister Ncube.

Last week on Thursday, the Zimbabwe Defence Forces handed over another classroom block to Sipepa Primary School in Tsholotsho on 4  August and many other projects around the country, including a state of the art clinic in Mberengwa.

Although the army is continuously engaged in projects within communities, such initiatives are intensified annually during the ZDF Community Assistance Week ahead of the country’s celebration of the Defence Forces Day. -@jdgjarachara