Times Of Swaziland: WHY OPENING OF E15M ELDERLY HOME DELAYED

WHY OPENING OF E15M ELDERLY HOME DELAYED
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Nonduduzo Kunene on 31/01/2023 08:26:00


MBABANE – Government’s E15 million elderly and disability home’s opening
in Mankayane has been delayed.
The much awaited government’s first disability and elderly home was supposed
to have opened its doors to the elderly and people with disabilities at the
beginning of the month. The home is located between Mankayane Police Station and
the government hospital. The centre is expected to house over 50 elderly people
as well as those with disabilities. The centre is under the portfolio of the
Deputy Prime Minister’s Office (DPMO), which is responsible for the welfare of
the elderly and people with disabilities. It is the first elderly home initiated
by government through the department of Social Welfare (DSW).
Last year October, the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM), Themba Masuku, Civil Service
Commission Chairperson Simanga Mamba, DPMO’s Principal Secretary (PS) Melusi
Masuku, members of the portfolio committee, Manzini Regional Administrator Chief
Gija, among others, toured the facility.  During the official visit, it was
announced that the centre was nearing its completion stage. The elderly
facility, which has four three-bedroom units, a canteen, semi-detached
two-bedroom houses for staff, is already fully furnished. The only structure
that had not been furnished at the time was the disability home and some paving
work and roads were incomplete. Hiring of staff members who are supposed to work
at the home had not been done at the time of the tour. Guidelines that were
supposed to be followed to admit eligible candidates to the home were also
supposed to be completed within three months after the tour. Three months later,
the centre has not started accommodating the elderly and people with
disabilities. There is no tentative date on when the centre will start
operating.
The PS in the DPM’s Office said they encountered minor delays regarding the
opening of the home. He stated that the first issue that led to the delay was
the access road to the centre.
“It’s a pity we couldn’t start operating in January as planned,” he
said. The reason for the delay in completing the road, according to Masuku ,was
because the contractor had not completed the construction work in the centre as
they were still constructing the access road to the facility. Secondly, the PS
said the disability facility had not been fully completed. He said they were
working on procuring furniture and equipment for the disability unit.
Adding, the PS said 13 staff members for the facility had been recruited and
were undergoing training at Mankayane Government Hospital. “We are grateful to
the Ministry of Public Service and the Civil Service Commission for the
vacancies,” he said. The PS said the staff members included nurses and
orderlies who would be working at the centre. He said the reason they were
attached to the hospital was for them to get on-the-job training because their
work required a lot of skill and dedication. “They have been training for
almost two months now because we do not want to find ourselves in a situation
where we take incompetent people to look after people with special needs,” he
said.
Masuku mentioned that besides being trained on care-giving, the staff was also
trained on how to handle waste management, among other forms of training. He
highlighted that the Ministry of Health was assisting them in the health care
and environmental health sector. “We anticipate the training will take a month
or two in order to avoid further delays,” he said.
Further, the PS stated that the Social Welfare Department was finalising the
guidelines that would be used to select people who were eligible to be
accommodated in the facility. He said the guidelines would be shared with the
public in due time.
Overall, the elderly home will house senior citizens who live alone, are
vulnerable and neglected. Meanwhile, the disability unit will house children
with disability whose parents are often working and do not have anybody to look
after their young ones. Parents of these children will take their children with
them on weekends but a lot of the criterions will be outlined in the guidelines.