By Chantelle Muzanenhamo
THE Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) has appealed to the Municipality of Beitbridge to provide affordable residential stands for prison officers as as the organisation battles a severe shortage of staff accommodation.
ZPCS Beitbridge Officer-in-Charge Onai Chimujakazi made the appeal while briefing Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Albert Nguluvhe on Tuesday during his tour of the correctional facility.
Chimujakazi said the station has 139 officers 94 males and 45 females but only five staff accommodation units, leaving many officers with no option but to rent accommodation outside the prison camp.
He said high rental charges were placing an additional financial burden on officers, while delays in completing ongoing construction projects had further complicated the situation.
“Our construction works are taking long to come to completion; therefore, we are requesting allocation of affordable residential stands from the Municipality of Beitbridge for our staff,” Chimujakazi said.
He said ZPCS was also planning to construct a 14-roomed barrack to provide additional accommodation for officers.
The appeal puts the local authority at the centre of efforts to address the housing crisis, with ZPCS seeking land that would enable officers to build homes at a more affordable cost.
Nguluvhe, who toured the facility and was briefed on the challenges facing the prison, pledged to help source equipment needed by the institution.
He also said he would engage Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi on some of the other matters raised by the prison authorities.
The visit came as the Beitbridge business community donated paint to the correctional facility, highlighting the wider infrastructure challenges confronting the prison.
Chimujakazi said the station needed support to improve both staff welfare and the condition of its infrastructure.
The proposed 14-roomed barrack is expected to provide some relief, but ZPCS maintains that access to affordable residential stands remains critical to providing a sustainable long-term solution to the accommodation shortage.
For the 139 officers stationed at Beitbridge Prison, the request to the municipality is therefore not simply about additional housing, but about reducing the financial strain caused by exorbitant rentals and improving staff welfare.