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JACKSON MAPAPAYI writes
A hailstorm has blown off a roof of a classroom block at Muwozi Primary School in Mwinilunga district.
The district, in the North-western province, has in the past three days experienced some rainfall. Mwinilunga District Education Board Secretary (DEBS), Derby Jipila, confirmed the incident which happened on Monday afternoon.
Mr Jipila, who visited the school to assess the extent of the damage, said the damage was largely caused by the strong wind.
“Yes, we have a 1×2 classroom block whose roof has been blown by a hailstorm. I have checked the damage and three things contributed to the damage of the roof.
“Firstly the school is built in an open area where there are no trees, then the roof was not also well tied so the roof became vulnerable due to the strong wind,” Mr Jipila said.
He said the situation was compounded by the location of the school which was built in an open area making it vulnerable to strong winds. Mr Jipila said that his office would generate a report and submit it to the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit for support.
Meanwhile, the DEBS has expressed happiness with the school management’s efforts to revamp the production unit.
He said despite it being a primary school, it has three fish ponds and a pine tree plantation with over 100 trees.
Meanwhile, school head teacher, George Mulele, informed the authorities that the school would expand the plantation to 1,000 trees. “So far, we have 400 trees and polyethylene bags for use to expand the plantation to 1,000 trees in addition to the 100 trees we have already planted,” he said
