Zimbabwe and Zambia are set to co-host the UNWTO General Assembly from August 21-28.
I MSD Head of External Relations, Elliot Bungare, said the department had sent a request for funding to the Treasury but had not received a positive response.
Although he would not disclose the total amount the MSD had received from the Treasury, Bungare said most of the finances were going towards meeting day to day expenses and salaries with nothing left for the UNWTO General Assembly costs.
“This year, we made a request of $10 million which was also supposed to cover expenses for the UNWTO General Assembly. The money we received is going towards expenses such as salaries we haven’t received anything for UNWTO General Assembly.
“For the UNWTOP General Assembly, we wanted to buy radars which are used to monitor the atmosphere and we also wanted to buy upper air equipment used by planes to determine temperatures and pressure,” said Bungare.
He said the funds would assist the department in providing world-class services during the UNWTO General Assembly.
“We hope we can still provide our services according to international standards,” said Bungare.
Bungare said that the lack of adequate finance from Treasury had largely incapacitated the MSD over the years. He said that in 2012 the MSD made a request of $5 million and were allocated $2 212 689, 00 of which the total amount released was $1 362 300, 00.
“As a result, we are unable to increase the observational network as planned. We have also faced high staff turnover because we are not able to give skilled staff the incentives they require and we are unable to carry out programmes on climate change,” said Bungare.
Post published in: News