DISASTROUS DELAYS

REPORTS that government has not yet provided financial assistance to schools affected by the December 2023 hailstorm are worrying.

The amount required is about E50 million.

The devastating storm hit areas like Ngculwini, surround areas and some in the Shiselweni Region. It left at least one person dead and dozens of vehicles severely damaged.

Hundreds of people were left in need of shelter and other amenities.

Many of the affected families have still not been able to repair their houses. Cabinet has embarked on a noble exercise of touring schools around the country to determine the challenges they face.

This has seen different teams of ministers visiting schools in the four regions of the country. These tours have uncovered a lot of information that ministers would never have known, had they remained in their offices.

This different approach from the Russel Dlamini-led Cabinet is commendable.

However, it is sad that, eight weeks later, schools affected by the hailstorm have not been repaired. As a result, hundreds of pupils had to stay home when other schools opened for the first term on January 23, 2024.

Minister of Education and Training Owen Nxumalo toured affected schools under the Mafutseni Constituency in the past week.

The minister was told that contractors were already fixing the damage, but had not been paid.

In response, the minister said Cabinet was aware of this situation and it would be sorted `soon.’

It is disappointing that a country with a well-structured National Disaster Management Agency does not have emergency funds that are always ready to be easily accessible in such cases, without the red tape that causes detrimental delays.