SEVERAL students at a Bulawayo vocational training centre run by the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe, could be left homeless after council terminated the institution’s lease for Mthandisi Hostel in Thorngrove.
Pamela Mhlanga Own correspondent
The hostel is used as accommodation for students at the vocational centre.
According to the latest council minutes, the five-year lease agreement was cancelled at the request of the college after it had accumulated rental arrears of about $27 000.
“We are terminating the lease because of the economic situation which does not allow us to renovate the property as per lease agreement,” read part of the letter signed by a T Mdlongwa on behalf of the training centre.
“The utility bills and rentals are beyond our means as they are charged on commercial basis yet we are a non-profit making organisation.”
The college added that the debt was almost half of its yearly income.
The City Council said although a handover ceremony was officially conducted on December 12 last year, there were 12 students who had not completed their programmes and still needed accommodation.
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The report did not mention anything about students intending to enrol for the new academic year.
Efforts to get a comment from the church and college were fruitless as church spokesperson, identified only as Reverend Mudenda, was said to be out of Bulawayo.
