ZIMBABWE Broadcasting Holdings (ZBH) needs an estimated R72 million to replace obsolete signal transmission equipment to effect countrywide reception of its radio and television signals
The Minister of Media, Information, and Publicity Webster Shamu, told Parliament ZBH planned to overhaul its transmitters for both radio and television by year end.
However, he did not shed light on what had happened to the Iranian R60 million deal which was brokered by ousted Professor Jonathan Moyo during his tenure as Information Minister.
In 2004, the Iranians pledged R60 million for the digitalization of the ZBC but the deal later ran into trouble when Moyo was fired by President Robert Mugabe in 2005 before the Iranians had completed the programme.
But Shamu told Parliament on 29 July 2009 during an oral question and answer session that the equipment in place had outlived its lifespan and needed to be replaced at a cost of R32 million and R 40 million for the radio and television networks, respectively.
"The transmitters have been operating for the past 34 years instead of eight years. Consequently transmission will be affected. Almost all the transmitters in the country have outlived their lifespan and need to be revamped," he said.
As present, Zimbabweans living along the country’s border areas do not receive the ZBC signal and tune into television and radio stations in Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique and Zambia instead.
Meanwhile, musician Hosiah Chipanga is threatening to sue ZBC for banning his latest album, Hero Shoko (Hear is the Word), from receiving airplay through the state-controlled broadcaster.
Chipangas lawyer, Panganai Hare, has written to the national broadcaster giving it seven days within which to rectify the issue before taking the broadcaster to court.
Hare said the ZBCs move was an infringement on Chipangas freedom of expression as it impedes the albums availability and marketability to fans.
The ZBCs secretary, Norman Mahori, said he would examine the album before responding but would also consider the morals and ethics of a public broadcaster.
-journalism.co.za
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Zim the most aid dependent
Johannesburg - Zimbabwe is the most food aid dependent country in the world, aid agencies said on Tuesday.
Also, nearly 55% of children who died of cholera in the southern African country were malnourished.
This is according to a report released by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, quoting numbers from the World Food Programme.
"Per capita, Zimbabwe is now the most food aid dependent country in the world. The World Food Programme believes that seven million people are in need of food assistance - somewhere between 65 and 80% of the population," the report states.
"The UN believes that 54% of all children who have died from cholera were malnourished, with 47% of the country’s population undernourished."
The food crisis was caused by several factors including hyperinflation which disenfranchised many agriculture farmers, the report states.
Substandard seed
"Zimbabwe's fields are sown with substandard seed, scavenged often from granaries or from the side of the road. It is extraordinarily unlikely that the 2009 harvest will significantly surpass 2008 - the worst in the country's history," says the report.
The country's woes started escalating in 2000 when President Robert Mugabe's government lost a referendum to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change and sanctioned an aggressive land reform programme in which the majority of white farmers lost their land to war veterans.
This resulted in a food crisis, exacerbated by drought and later by hyper-inflation.
The country was plunged into socio-economic turmoil, political violence and eventually a collapse of infrastructure, alongside a deadly cholera epidemic last year that killed more than 4 000 people.
Mugabe late last year finally agreed to form a government of national unity with opposition leaders.
- SAPA
Also, nearly 55% of children who died of cholera in the southern African country were malnourished.
This is according to a report released by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, quoting numbers from the World Food Programme.
"Per capita, Zimbabwe is now the most food aid dependent country in the world. The World Food Programme believes that seven million people are in need of food assistance - somewhere between 65 and 80% of the population," the report states.
"The UN believes that 54% of all children who have died from cholera were malnourished, with 47% of the country’s population undernourished."
The food crisis was caused by several factors including hyperinflation which disenfranchised many agriculture farmers, the report states.
Substandard seed
"Zimbabwe's fields are sown with substandard seed, scavenged often from granaries or from the side of the road. It is extraordinarily unlikely that the 2009 harvest will significantly surpass 2008 - the worst in the country's history," says the report.
The country's woes started escalating in 2000 when President Robert Mugabe's government lost a referendum to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change and sanctioned an aggressive land reform programme in which the majority of white farmers lost their land to war veterans.
This resulted in a food crisis, exacerbated by drought and later by hyper-inflation.
The country was plunged into socio-economic turmoil, political violence and eventually a collapse of infrastructure, alongside a deadly cholera epidemic last year that killed more than 4 000 people.
Mugabe late last year finally agreed to form a government of national unity with opposition leaders.
- SAPA
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