The ManicaPost
Cletus Mushanawani
News Editor
PRESIDENT Mnangagwa has donated medical oxygen to Mozambique in a gesture aimed at strengthening ties between the two nations which share common history.
The donation follows the President’s recent visit to Beira in Mozambique where he also donated 1 000 tonnes of grain to help victims of terrorism attacks in the province of Cabo Delgado and other parts of the country.
President Mnangagwa last year commissioned Verify Engineering’s multi-million dollar oxygen plant at Feruka just outside Mutare in a major milestone which is in line with the Second Republic’s development agenda that is prioritising the success of national projects.
The plant has an installed capacity to produce 20 tonnes, 16.5 tonnes and 2.5 tonnes of gaseous oxygen, liquid oxygen and nitrogen respectively per day.
This production ensures national self-sufficiency of the products.
Scope already exists to export surplus gas into the region and Mozambique becomes the first neighbouring country to benefit from the locally produced gas following President Mnangagwa’s donation.
Yesterday (Thursday) saw Mozambican Health Minister, Professor Armindo Tiago and Health and Child Care Deputy Minister, Dr John Mangwiro touring the Verifying Engineering Feruka plant to get an appreciation of operations.
In an interview with The Manica Post on the sidelines of the tour, Professor Tiago said: “We are here to have an appreciation of the ongoing operations following President Mnangagwa’s visit to Beira where he donated gas to Mozambique.
“We are currently calculating the amount of gas we want and will let our Zimbabwean counterparts know. We are using this opportunity to maximise the corporation that exists between Mozambique and Zimbabwe. I was impressed by what I saw here. In only two years they have assembled advanced technology and expertise to produce oxygen for almost the entire SADC region,” he said.
Professor Tiago applauded Zimbabwean engineers for successfully installing the plant which he described as a game changer in the regional health sector.
“We need to congratulate everyone who was involved in this project as it shows that Africa is ready to develop. Before Covid-19 hit, Mozambique required 55 tonnes of gas per month, but with Covid-19 that requirement has since doubled to about 120 tonnes.
“We have oxygen for many central and provincial hospitals, but those in the districts and downwards don’t have enough, so the donation coming from Zimbabwe will cover the oxygen needs at all levels in Mozambique’s health system.
He added: “We also need to increase collaboration between Mozambique and Zimbabwe in other sectors, especially higher education, where we think we can benefit more in terms of innovation and technology. Zimbabwe has more to offer for the benefit of Mozambique.
“In the past, we used to have a collaboration in the training of health professionals and some specialists in Mozambique were trained in Zimbabwe in the areas of surgery, orthopedics and medicine.”
Dr Mangwiro confirmed President Mnangagwa’s kind gesture.
“We are here as a result of His Excellency, President Mnangagwa’s visit to Mozambique where he made a donation of oxygen to the Republic of Mozambique. Oxygen is a gas of life so when a neighbour needs it we have to provide it.
“We came here for them to see themselves what is on the ground. They have expressed interest in the liquid gas which is here as well as the tanks. Verify Engineering have told us that they can delivery all that is required in Mozambique easily because the quantities of oxygen needed in Zimbabwe can be produced in three days with the rest exported.
“The co-operation between Mozambique and Zimbabwe can go further than oxygen. They are doing open heart surgeries in Mozambique. They have two centres which can do that and we need to discuss how we can collaborate on that as we have been sending our patients to countries that are very far away for those surgeries. We have a very long list of people in need of open heart surgery who can benefit from this arrangement,” he said.
Mozambique also donated anti-retroviral and tuberculosis drugs to Zimbabwe following the gas donation.
