HWANGE The doors of a local government hospital are still shut, a year after it had been commissioned. The failure to open the hospital has been due to lack of electricity in the area. It is estimated that US$20 million would be required to power the hospital.The coal mining town has had no public hospital since independence in 1980. Villagers in Hwange District are forced to use the private St Patrick’s Mission Hospital or the Hwange Colliery Hospital which are both expensive alternatives.
Alic Mudenda, the Hwange Rural District Council (RDC) chief executive officer said: “The RDC is appealing for assistance from the government and the NGO’s to provide electricity for the hospital.