Tea Estate to construct school-blocks, bridges

BY WATIPASO MZUNGU JNR

Nchima Tea Estate in Thyolo has pledged to construct six school blocks in the next three years to ease congestion and make the learning environment much more pleasant in schools surrounding the estate.

The estate will also construct two bridges before rainy seaon this year.

The estate’s general manager, Dave Saywood, made the commitment on Tuesday when he presented a donation of four bicycle ambulances to Group Village Headmen Matchuana, Nkolokosa, Phalira and Kabambe in T/A Nchilamwela’s area in the district.

Saywood said his company had arrived at the decision having appreciated the challenges and the prohibitive learning environments children are subjected to such as congestion, which is synonymous with many primary schools in the country.

“We’re going to construct two classrooms this year before the rains. Next year, we’ll contruct another two and the following year another two. Hopefully, that is going to improve the standards of the children’s education in our community,” said Saywood.

“In addition, MP for this area [Kingsley Namakhwa] has approached us on the possibility that we help in constructing two bridges that connect to Thyolo District Hospital to help villagers easily connect to referral hospitals in times of ailments. We’ve promised to give him feedback. The bridges will be operational before the start of the rains,” he added.

On the bicycle ambulances, Saywood said the donation was one of the activities lined up for their corporate social responsibilities to the communities surrounding the estate.

In his remarks, Kingsley Namakhwa said the bicycle ambulances will play a crucial role in the fight against child and maternal mortality in the area.

“People from this area live far from the district hospital…and we’re having problems to transport patients to the hospital. In the end, we ended up losing lives on the way. So these bicycles will help us in saving lives,” explained Namakhwa.

He appealed to other estates operating in the district to emulate what Nchima Tea Estate is doing in transforming the living standards of rural communities.

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