Nkosentsha Khumalo<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MATOPO ward 9 villagers in Matabeleland South province have appealed to telecommunications companies to install cellphone signal towers to improve network coverage in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the villagers, they sometimes have to climb trees to make calls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhenever there is need to make a call, we go up the mountain just to access the network and the question is \u2018until when?\u2019\u201d Thandazani Ngwenya, a villager asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another villager Portia Ndlovu said poor network coverage had also affected learners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSchoolchildren are required to do tasks related education which require one to have access to the internet, but in this case it\u2019s unfortunate because there is no network. This also applies to those who are doing business. A transaction can\u2019t be made because there is no network connection,\u201d Ndlovu said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to villagers, there has been poor network coverage after the only signal tower developed a fault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ward 16 councillor Bekezela Moyo said service providers had promised to restore the network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe appeal to service providers to fix the booster (signal tower) or install a new one to restore the network,\u201d Moyo said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A villager, who identified himself as K Sibanda, said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are suffering. For the past six months we have been failing to communicate with our families. We really appeal to our service providers to help us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, villagers in Matobo North\u2019s ward 18 have pooled resources to construct a school because learners were being forced to walk about 30 kilometres to neighbouring wards for lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The school is named Nqindi Secondary School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Villagers, diaspora community and other stakeholders including Matobo North legislator Edgar Moyo, who is also Primary and Secondary Education Deputy Minister, played different roles in fundraising for the construction of the school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fumugwe ward 18 councillor Weed Moyo said the school would benefit learners from Fumugwe, Mazhayimbe, Dewe, Halale and Gandavale villages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe school will mainly benefit the learners who travel long distances to Badza Secondary School, which already exhausts the learners before they even write the examinations,\u201d Moyo said, further indicating that Constituency Development Funds were used to purchase 350 bags of cement, window and door frames and other building materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDiaspora contributions also assisted in building the strongroom and the roofing is expensive, we are expecting to get about US$10 000 complementary funding from the ministry,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nqindi School head Raven Takura, who sent an SOS for materials and financial resources for the construction of other classroom blocks, said: \u201cThe school currently has five teachers and three cottages but there is still a need for funding to construct other facilities such as laboratories.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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