THE Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural settlement has approved a request by the Medical and Dental Private Practitioners of Zimbabwe Association Trust (MDPPZA) to have all its 372 members drawn from doctors and other healthcare workers to be considered for land allocation.
By Michael Gwarisa
The development is apart of government’s move to incentivize and appreciate the role Private healthcare practitioners have played in complementing government’s efforts to combat the raging COVID-19 pandemic and other healthcare hazards that have bedeviled the country over the years.
In a letter addressed to all provincial affairs and devolution ministers by the Agricultural Ministry’s Secretary, Dr John Basera, he directed all provinces to commence procedures towards the land allocation process for the healthcare practitioners.
Speaking to Journalists in the capital, Harare, MDPPZA president, Dr Johannes Marisa said the move will go a long way in empowering healthcare workers who at times are left out and excluded from participating and benefiting from national programs.
I ended up writing to President Emerson Mnangagwa to be considered for non-monetary benefits as front-liners especially considering the sterling work we did in managing COVID-19. We wrote and signed the letter and this letter was taken straight to the President who responded accordingly through his private secretary and was later seconded by the Ministry of Agriculture.
“We want to thank the government for honoring our requests as healthcare workers. We are sure now that we have been allocated the land. As for now, we thank our government for this land gesture and the fact that this has been approved at Presidential level shows how serious the matter is and even other duty bearers will move with speed to expedite the allocation process,” said Dr Marisa.
The MDPPZA is also pushing for a duty-free exemption and Dr Marisa said they were optimistic that that also will be approved in the not-so-distant future.
Meanwhile, the MDPPZA Secretary General, Dr Cletos Masiya said all members can now access land under this program and there was nothing sinister or political about it.
“We are acknowledging that most of the time, private players cry foul whilst seated in their offices and not taking advantage of the national programs that are availed by government. We as the MDPPZA, we took it upon ourselves and officially wrote to the President.
“What we have here is an endorsement of our engagements. We thank the government for hearing us. This time around, we see that there was no procrastination on this matter. In five days, the letter was done and in five days we got our response. There is nothing behind the scenes or a hidden agenda or anything unscrupulous. Any of the members of this association who is a fully subscribed member can have access to land now,” said Dr Masiya.
He however urged doctors to be realistic when applying for the pieces so that some land won’t be left lying idle.
