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Govt regrets Battlefields disaster

by Staff reporter
19 Feb 2019 at 20:01hrs | Views
The fourth cabinet sitting of 2019 has regretted the Battlefields mine disaster and decided to institute thorough investigations.

24 bodies were retrieved from the mines, while 8 people were pulled out alive following a flooding incident at Cricket and Silver Moon mines.

The mine tragedy has since been declared a national disaster, with the government and other stakeholders moving in quickly to undertake rescue operations.

Addressing a media briefing just after the cabinet meeting, the Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Monica Mutsvangwa said the government is committed to ensure that such accidents do not happen again.

She said going forward, use of new technologies and warning systems is critical to avert potential disasters in the future.

The marathon cabinet sitting came up with other binding resolutions under the 100 day priority projects.

A decision was made to establish a business emergency relief fund to recapacitate businesses which incurred losses due to the 14th of January violent protests.

The Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr Obediah Moyo said his ministry will escalate efforts to harness the supply of critical drugs to the sector and also establish a specialist treatment center at Parirenyatwa hospital.

The Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development, Professor Amon Murwira said various initiatives will be undertaken under his ministry for the liquification of coal into finished products.

The cabinet also resolved to continue with state enterprises reforms, with subsidiaries of the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) and Allied Timbers being the next priority.

Minister Mutsvangwa also revealed that democratic reforms under the second republic continue to gain traction with the Freedom of Information Bill on the cards.

It was also revealed that the corporate world continues to support Zimbabwe's reconstruction process with banking giant, BancABC set to construct a medical school at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Bulawayo.

Source - zbc
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