Story by Kenias Chivuzhe
PLANS are underway for the establishment of the country’s first Institute of Civil Protection and Disaster Management as a resilience measure against climate-induced disasters.
The establishment of the Institute of Civil Protection and Disaster Management is described as a milestone development in the country’s quest to promote excellence in civil protection and emergency management in the face of recurrent disasters affecting the country and the region.
Manicaland State University of Applied Sciences Vice Chancellor Professor Albert Chahwanda whose institution signed an MOU with the city of Mutare spoke on the scope and timeframes in implementing the new initiative.
“This MOU is between the state university and the city of Mutare to establish an institute of civil protection and disaster management. This is the first of its kind in Zimbabwe and in the Southern Africa region. The training will benefit all councils, private companies, timber companies and fuel companies among others.
“The training will be conducted in partnership with the Belarus Civil Protection and Disaster Management University. In the short term, we are going to start with a certificate in disaster and firefighting engineering. It will take us about 10 years to establish the institute as the first five years will see the personnel being sent to Belarus for training,” Professor Chahwanda said.
Mutare City town Clerk Mr Blessing Chafesuka spoke on the focus of the new initiative.
“We are looking forward to training firefighters who are able to do sea diving and who are able to respond to any type of disaster. We hope this will be a solution for the whole country. The government recently procured firefighting equipment and distributed it to all local authorities. There is now a gap in terms of personnel hence this partnership. As a city for the next 10 years, we are ok in terms of equipment. The challenge has been a mass exodus of personnel overseas and the training of more personnel will create a big buffer,” Mr Chafesuka said.
Government believe the establishment of the civil protection institute in the country was long overdue due to a number of disasters affecting the country.
“The signing of a memorandum of understanding will give birth to the Institute of Civil Protection. The development resonates with the Second Republic’s thrust to strengthen disaster preparedness and improve community-based recovery mechanisms. Manicaland has been greatly affected by cyclones that include Eline and Idai and these experiences taught us valuable lessons therefore we are heartened by this initiative and we will give you our maximum support. Last year we had a serious fire incident which we could not control in Nyanga,” the Director in the Office of Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution- Manicaland, Mr Munyaradzi Rubaya said
Government believe the establishment of the civil protection institute in the country was long overdue due to a number of disasters affecting the country.
“The signing of a memorandum of understanding will give birth to the Institute of Civil Protection. The development resonates with the Second Republic’s thrust to strengthen disaster preparedness and improve community-based recovery mechanisms. Manicaland has been greatly affected by cyclones that include Eline and Idai and these experiences taught us valuable lessons therefore we are heartened by this initiative and we will give you our maximum support. Last year we had a serious fire incident which we could not control in Nyanga,” the Director in the Office of Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution- Manicaland, Mr Munyaradzi Rubaya said
The Institute of Civil Protection is also expected to benefit regional countries since it is the first such initiative within the SADC region.
