Japanese Volunteers Cooperation offers technicians...

Japanese Volunteers Cooperation offers technicians to Bulawayo City Council

Zim Now Writer

The Japanese Volunteers Cooperation has urged the Bulawayo City Council to resurrect a skills exchange programme which will see Japanese technical experts seconded to the municipality.

““We, as the Japan International Cooperation Agency, are interested in reviewing the technical cooperation enjoyed with BCC which saw four JOCVs being deployed to Bulawayo City Council between 1996 and 2008. We are happy to notify you that the programme is still available and calling upon the BCC to make applications to receive Japanese Volunteers once again and we have various fields you can choose from,” Japan International Cooperation Agency programme officer Charlotte Ndlovu wrote in an email to BCC. .

“These volunteers were deployed in the following areas; town planning, road construction, surveying and public administration.”

Ndlovu urged the council to make applications to receive Japanese volunteers.

“We will be happy if we can have a meeting with your office and other departments within council to discuss the possibility of deploying volunteers to work with BCC.”

According to latest council minutes, the email was read in the last meeting.

The minutes indicated that the Japan Agency would be responsible for all the expenses incurred by the volunteers during their stay and attachment to the council.

BCC said the exchange programme will bridge the skills flight which has seen critical council departments operating with skeleton staff after civil engineers (roads, water, electro-mechanical), land surveyors, clinical medical officers and fire brigade personnel among others, quit their job.

“The Management Committee had resolved to recommend to council that the Overseas Volunteers Cooperation Programme be resuscitated in 2024 after budgeting, and applications to be done in 2023, since it was beneficial to council for improved service delivery,” the minutes read.

If the agreement is signed, council will be required to seek authority from the ministry of Local Government and Public Works.