The Analysis

Not in a hurry to apply for permission to draw water from the Zambezi River-Sipepa

2011-05-16T08:31:00.000-07:00

Minister of Water and Resources Management- Samuel Sipepa Nkomo.

Water Resources Management and Development minister Samuel Sipepa Nkomo has revealed that Zimbabwe is not in a hurry to apply for permission to draw water from the Zambezi River.

Nkomo said Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project (MZWP) was not yet ready to apply to the Zambezi Watercourse Commission (Zamcom) as it is facing a number of challenges.

“I am not ready yet to ask for permission to draw water from the Zambezi. We are currently organising ourselves. There is no hurry for us asking for that (permission). We are not yet there.

“Once we are ready we are going to do that and I am sure that it is going to be a foregone conclusion that we will get the permission,” he said.

Recent media reports have said Zimbabwe did not ask for permission to draw water from the Zambezi as there are no records to prove its claims that it has already secured permission for the project.

Last week, Zamcom secretary Michael Mutale said that Zimbabwe had not made any formal application to draw water from Zambezi River to the Matabeleland region.

He said: “The modalities of one riparian state seeking permission from Sadc countries over development of the river basin water resources has so far never existed.

“In fact, the creation of Zamcom is the first attempt to create such. Therefore, it is not documented on how Zimbabwe sought permission to undertake the inter-basin water transfer from the Zambezi.”

Nkomo said Zimbabwe had renewed its membership to Zamcom.

“We have ratified. There are some countries that have asked to draw water from the river. We have Mozambique and they have been allowed. Botswana also asked for permission but we (Zamcom) gave them conditions.

“They want to draw from the confluence of Tshobe and Zambezi, so we told them that they can only draw water when the Zambezi is in high tide otherwise Victoria Falls will suffer,” he said.

He said Zambia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe were on the verge of signing a Memorandum of Understanding because these are the countries which actually share the border, so they are organising themselves into how they can manage their basins within the river.

“Otherwise I'm not yet ready to ask for permission to draw water from Zambezi because we are busy trying to put logistics of doing things” he said.

ZITF hit by low turnout.

2011-05-07T05:38:00.000-07:00

Zimbabwe International Trade Fair

THE Zimbabwe International Trade Fair underway in Bulawayo has been hit by low turnout with members of the public expressing concern over the high fees being charged for entry into the exhibition park.

The Fair, an annual event, was opened to the public on Thursday but turn-out was remarkably low although an improvement was expected on Friday for the event’s official opening by Africa Import and Export Ban president Jean-Louis.

A survey carried out at the Fair revealed that most of the people who visited Fair grounds were impressed by the quality of products on display.

James Gabaza from Mzilikazi suburb said he noticed an improvement in the number of exhibitors at this year's event.

"I have seen a significant improvement this year. Last year there were huge gaps in hall three and four as some of the cubicles were not occupied, however this year the gaps have been filled by exhibitors.
"Today (Thursday) is bit quiet because there are fewer people but we are sure that Friday will be much better as people might want attend the official opening," Gabaza said.

He added that the admission fees for the fair might have discouraged some people from coming as it was unaffordable.

"The problem some people might have incurred is that the opening of the fair was close to the opening of schools and some people have opted to save their money for the school fees instead," he said.

Children who visited the fair were also impressed by the displays with most visiting the police and Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) stands.

"The police displays were very educative, we were fascinated by their skills they use in controlling animals. The cow exhibits are also interesting, the whole fair brings various elements together in one place and we can receive the education from one place," said Ndumiso Sinyoro from Southwold.

Meanwhile exhibitors also said they had been encouraged by the number of inquiries they were getting inquiries from potential clients.

"We have been receiving many inquiries from potential clients since the Fair started and now that the fair open to the public we are optimistic of good business," said Clarion insurance company underwriter, Mkhululi Nkomo.

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15 000 children to benefit from BEAM

2011-05-07T05:22:00.000-07:00

School children

The government has set aside US$1 million to assist vulnerable children across the country with examination fees under the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM).

According to the Director of Social Services in the Ministry of labour and Social Welfare Mr Sydney Mhishi, 15 000 vulnerable children from across the country will benefit from the scheme.

“For Advanced level students, the scheme will provide examination fees for up to three subjects, while for ordinary level students the scheme will provide examination fees for up to six subjects” he said.

He said the money for the school fees had already been dispatched to provincial offices and was ready for disbursement to respective schools.

However, the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association is calling for transparency and accountability in terms of distribution of the funds to ensure that all provinces in the country benefit equally from the examination fees support.

Coordinator of BPRA Roderick Fayayo said “There is need for the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture to come up with checks and balances to ensure that there is no corruption in the administration of the money.”

BPRA’s concerns stem after a similar scheme last year failed to adequately benefit vulnerable children in Bulawayo and other areas of Matabeleland, with hundreds failing to sit for examinations as a result.

The association also has concerns with the failure of the authorities to adequately inform the public on how beneficiaries were picked.

Fayayo also said “BPRA is concerned that examination fees in the country are exorbitant and beyond the reach of the majority of Zimbabweans, more than 80 percent of whom are unemployed while those that are employed are earning salaries below the poverty datum line.”

“It is the contention of BPRA that examination fees, which are pegged at $11 for Ordinary Level students and $22 for Advanced Level students, should be reduced as they are too high and depriving children of their right to education.”

He said the government should revamp the structure of BEAM to ensure that it benefits children who actually need assistance. There is also need for more transparency in the operations of BEAM.

Beam is part of Government's social protection strategy targeting vulnerable children of school going age.

Its primary objective is to reduce the number of school dropouts and to reach children who have never been to school due to economic hardships.

Working in conjunction with Unicef, Government has managed to buy millions of textbooks for primary schools countrywide and another programme for secondary schools will be unveiled soon.

Decentralize policy making and program implementation- Mzembi.

2011-05-06T07:51:00.000-07:00

The Tourism minister......Walter Mzembi.

The minister of Tourism, Engineer Walter Mzembi has encouraged the government to decentralize policy making and program implementation to ensue an equal investment and equal opportunities for the people in all areas.

Speaking at the launch of the new tourism market, The Zimbabwe World of Tourism, minister Mzembi said the one stop shop must devolve from Harare to other regions so that development will not concentrate in one area.

“We believe some progress has been made in the area of investment with the establishment of the one stop investment shop but clearly more needs to be done in terms of managing of perception even in this area.”

“This activity of the one stop shop must devolve from Harare to the regions, Bulawayo included ensure a sense of equal access by investors and equal opportunities for our people.”

He said the one stop shop concept should not only be concentrated in Harare but Bulawayo, Mutare, Masvingo and all other districts around the country.

“The activities relating to immigration, company registration need to be looked at critically and reviewed” he said.

Mzembi said another area of concern is the question of destination accessibility and connectivity as it affects the movement of investors. He said the issue of Air Zimbabwe now requires intervention.

“In 1996 Zimbabwe had 45 international carriers servicing Zimbabwe from different international source markets, today we are down to less than 10 and the price of flights is too high.”

“It now costs US$800 to fly between Harare and Johannesburg, an amount that flies a tourist between Johannesburg and New York. Under normal circumstances can such prices promote tourism and enable us to achieve the critical mass of valuables into Zimbabwe.”

The vice president, John Landa Nkomo who was the guest of honor at the event said the new tourism brand will help in positioning and improving the image of the country which has suffered years of attack and negative publicity, chasing away tourists and investors.

Councillors divided over rent charges

2011-04-08T01:07:00.000-07:00

Tower block vendors

Bulawayo councillors are divided over vending site rent charges following an application by the Tower Block vendors to have the amount reviewed downwards.

The vendors want the amount to be reduced from $23 per day to $12 per day.

Speaking at a full council meeting recently, Cllr Earnest Rafamoyo said the site is not a vending place and the council is already doing the people a favor by letting them use the place.

“That area is not a vending site, the council is doing them a favor. There are tourists who visit that place and so it has to be kept in good form all the time, so the money they pay is used to maintain the attractive ness of that place.”

Cllr Edward Manning also echoed the same sentiments saying as councillors they need to help the people they represent and cater for their needs.

In the request the vendors said "We came to this figure looking at he following issues. The cleaning of the site is taken care by us, while we do not have water and toilet facilities. We use pay toilets. The other thing is the fact that the business is at its lowest level making us raise money for bookings only. Many of our traders are paying Tower Block trading rental thereby failing to pay their housing rentals.”

What it means figuratively is that each vendor pays $184,00 in 8 days in a month. In one year the vendor pays $2 208,00 plus. In comparison with shop licenses who are paying $600,00 a year and these trading 24 days a month under constructed shelters.

According to the minutes, the Chamber Secretary (Valuation) said the reason for the hike was meant to decongest the volume of human traffic in the Tower Block area, the numbers came down slightly.

The Director of Engineering Services (Simela Dube) said the charges were fair as evidenced by the overcrowding of merchandisers at the weekend flea market adding that his department was not in support of the reduction of the current charges.

However Dube and Cllr E manning were of the view that the charges must be reduced compared to those paid by formal traders.

6 000 Zimbos surrender fake IDs

2011-03-07T06:01:00.000-08:00

Some 6 000 Zimbabweans have reportedly surrendered their illegally-acquired identity documents to South Africa’s Home Affairs department while 50 000 handed in asylum documents as that country’s regularisation programme for illegal immigrants intensifies.

The department has so far processed work and study permits for 65 570 Zimbabweans and pledged to process the remaining 210 192 applications soon.

The department also said 16 960 Zimbabweans submitted applications using birth certificates or national identity documents (IDs), 15 066 applied with any other document and 28 044 applied for passports.

The Registrar General’s Office is expected to issue 60 702 passports.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s Home Affairs co-minister Theresa Makone said the RG’s Office had committed itself to producing 3 000 passports per week to reduce the backlog of Zimbabweans in need of South African visas, but have no passports.

A Zimbabwean passport is a prerequisite for the four-year South African study, work and live visa offered to Zimbabweans as a way of regulating their stay in that country.

According to the South African Home Affairs department figures, 60 000 Zimbabweans without passports have applied for the visa.

“The RG (Tobaiwa Mudede) promised to make 3 000 passports per week. That is the figure he gave us. Whether he will manage or not, he is the one who makes the passports and we will see if he lives up to his promise,” Makone said.

Ngqabutho Dube, a member of the inter-party committee set up to help Zimbabweans through the registration process, urged Zimbabweans without passports, IDs or birth certificates to approach the consulate for assistance.

“Those who had South African IDs will have their permit numbers linked to their bank accounts so that they don’t lose out on their assets,” he said.