Whirlwind destroyed school needs help to rebuild

BULILIMA Rural District Council is appealing for funds to rebuild a classroom block at Phumuza Primary School which was destroyed by a whirlwind last week.

Hundreds of pupils escaped death last week on Monday afternoon after the roof of the classroom block at the school was blown away by a whirlwind, destroying furniture and stationery.

School authorities have provisionally set the amount of damage at the school at $5 000, but council is in the process of also making its own assessment.

Bulilima Rural District Council chief executive officer Mr John Brown Ncube said they were appealing to Government and development partners for assistance for repair work at the school.

“We will naturally after assessing the damage appeal to the community and our development partners starting with central government and Civil Protection Unit (CPU) to reconstruct the school,” said Mr Ncube.

The start of the rains now poses a challenge for school authorities and pupils due to lack of adequate classrooms.

There are also fears that more property, especially furniture and books, will be destroyed by rains as the destroyed classroom block was the only secure building at the school.

The whirlwind also destroyed documents belonging to the Registrar General’s Office which had a team stationed at the school as part of the national outreach programme to issue births certificates and national identity cards ahead of next year’s polls. — @richardmuponde.