Lobel, now based in New York, recently donated two fire engines, sourced from the UK, to Mutare City Council, whose existing fleet was old and no longer worked.
“I started donating fire engines to councils in Zimbabwe after I lost a close family friend, Solomon Mujuru, due to a fire that I think that was avoidable,” he said when he visited Mutare recently for the handover of two fire engines – a DAF 7000litre and a Chevrolet 1500 litre. He said the fire-fighting crisis in Mutare had been blamed for loss of lives and property.
The Harare fire department was accused of responding too late to the inferno that in August 2011 claimed the life of Mujuru at the Beatrice farm he occupied. Fire tenders are said to have taken hours to get to the scene.
The Lobel family, known for its popular Lobels bread brand, then stepped in with two Volvo fire engines to ease the problem in Harare.
Speaking at the handover ceremony of the trucks to Mutare Mayor, Tatenda Nhamarare, Lobel said: “We have a commitment to uplifting the people of Zimbabwe. One of the ways is through providing better services. I want the council to take good care of the engines and I hope the fire engines will save lives in Mutare.”
Lobel will donate similar fire engines to Masvingo City Council before the end of this month.
Post published in: News