CCBRT a dedicated
spring of charity
By Kizito Makoye
July eighth this year was a
momentous day for the country’s renowned Comprehensive Community Based
Rehabilitation Tanzania (CCBRT), as many people might have noticed, for the
first time her Royal Highness Princess of Wessex, Sophie Rhys-Jones paid a visit
at the hospital.
The visit was a great thing since the hospital has been in the forefront it
trying to avert the Tanzanian society, especially people from the middleclass
from social calamities.
As a patron for Vision 2020: the right to sight, the princess has been an icon
for human kind. She has particularly been involved in the universal campaign
against sight problems.
It was not expected by many that CCBRT would be one of the priority areas for
the Princess to visit. But the dream came true. The most eagerly awaited visit
of a member of Great Britain was eventually made possible.
The Princess shows a deep commitment and courage in serving the community
irrespective of race, income or status.
Among other things, she inaugurated new wards for eye patients and visited many
patients at the hospital to extend her consolation to those who are in physical
suffering.
Perhaps one might ask why the Princess bothered to travel all the way from
Britain. The answer is in fact simple, her Royal Highness had accepted the
invitation to become a patron of Vision 2020: the right to sight.
Princess Sophie expressed in her own words that she was deeply concerned in
various sufferings that people go through especially in Third World countries
like Tanzania. In many instances people from Third world nations perish of
easily preventable deceases, leaving behind bitter memories to those who would
still need their help.
In her strongly worded speech she delivered while opening a new ward at CCBRT,
the Princess was even shocked of the number of people who are needlessly blind
in today’s world. She said about 45 million people in the world have no sight,
and around 135 million others are confronted with blurred vision.
The Princess’s visit to the hospital was deliberate because she is an activist
for the Vision 2020 Campaign, which reiterates the importance of preventing,
caring and treating avoidable blindness. Furthermore the campaign aims at
eradicating unnecessary blindness by the year 2020.
Apart from that she mentioned other statistics which are pretty shocking,
however the society need to be informed. It is estimated that nearly 180 million
people across the world have some degree of visual impairment out of them 90 per
cent live in the poorer countries of the world where they are 5-10 times more
likely to go blind than those living in the developed world.
The Swahili phrase “ Ni Hatari lakini salama”, literary it is possible to avert
the dangerous situation, bears a great meaning, and it really makes sense. It is
also a reminder that people should take great care.
There is no other way to explain how splendid CCBRT services have been ever
since its inception in Tanzania almost 10 years ago. Since it started operating
in 1994, the hospital has emerged as a spring of generosity and charity not only
caring for those suffering from sight problems but also a range of desperate
people such as children with bone deformities and abnormal head structures, the
wounded, those suffering from stroke, epilepsy and even AIDS patients.
“CCBRT is a unique hospital for the disabled in the African continent, any
Tanzanian with disability can come forward for medical attention,” reads a
statement from the hospital.
CCBRT believes that various forms of disabilities can be easily avoided if not
completely prevented. Because the hospital realizes that poverty is the source
of many problems, which lead to disability, poor people have been given a
special priority whenever they are confronted with similar hardships.
In a bid to provide better services to the society, CCBRT designated five major
programmes including a social programme for physical deformities, which is
available both in Dar es Salaam and Moshi; HIV/AIDS programme which is related
to the pandemic (HARP) and CCBRT International training and counselling centre.
CCBRT provides special health services and treatment to the disabled AIDS
victims and orphans in Tanzania. The organization stands for better and
affordable services.
Over the years the hospital has maintained the highest levels of
professionalism, in 2003 for instance a total of 5,272 patients who nearly
succumbed to blindness because of advanced swellings (cataracts) were
successfully treated along with others 49,799 who had similar problems. This is
the most remarkable progress the hospital has ever achieved in its efforts to
relieve Tanzanians from blindness.
Her Royal Highness had ample time to meet blind children and their parents. She
spoke about the importance and the results of the job to treat eye related
problems and clearly examine the lives of the children. According to CCBRT most
families in Dar es Salaam are still unaware of the medical assistance being
provided.
Dodoma first
digital city
By Mary Wright
Dodoma is the first in East Africa to have the honour of becoming a digital
city.
How much property tax are you paying, bwana? Don’t think you can hide! The
stationary satellite has got its beady eye on you...... Edwin Mugerezi, director
of InfoBridge Consultants Ltd., was in Dodoma for two days from DSM and your
correspondent was fortunate to be able to interview him.
InfoBridge specializes in spacial technologies. With these it has developed a
land-based Revenue Collection System. The company has signed a five-year
contract with Dodoma Municipality, in particular with Manispaa, to put this
system into practice.
Accordingly aerial photography and digital mapping have carried out the survey
of Dodoma. Mugerezi showed me some of the results of this on the computer: first
the distant photo by satellite, and others by airplane gradually enlarged so
that every detail was magnified and you could view every building in the city -
breathtaking.
It is the Manispaa that is responsible for the assessment and collection of
property tax, on which revenues it relies for carrying out its plans for
Municipal Development. Manispaa and Capital Devt Authority (CDA) are required to
work together to forge a Municipal Land-Plan: where to put such things as social
services, street lights, parks, library, bus stations....
Up until last year Manispaa had multiple sources of revenue (even from such
things as taxes on chicken-keeping and bicycle possession) - but the government
decided to scrap these in favour of basic stable sources, which is to say the
property tax.
InfoBridge came to Dodoma just this year. Of course Property Tax has been
collected before, but Manispaa has been running into serious problems about
assessing it. For the property register, every building has to be known to the
tax authorities: its owner; its location; its use; its type; how many floors;
its valuation according to survey.
For InfoBridge’s remit it has to achieve a formidable information project and
put it into a database, hence Manispaa can estimate its revenue resources. There
is urban and rural Dodoma; urban Dodoma comprises 14 wards. To get a satellite
image, first the borders of the city have to be defined. The image’s supplier is
a company called Digital Globe, which has installed a stationary satellite
called QuickBird, which takes pictures of all over the world. InfoBridge had to
supply two elements; 1) the geographical coordinates of the city; 2) periods of
the year having clear skies.
Once the database has been obtained, revenue collectors have had to be trained
in collecting data with the help of maps and putting it on computer. The
Property Tax by-law of 1995 has already set the rates for the tax and there are
14 ward offices for collecting it.
The mapping of the city having been completed, other stakeholders could be
brought in to benefit from this technology: Tanesco, the Water Dept and so on.
They can add their own specific information to the images supplied. They can
share data amongst themselves because of being on a uniform system, and the cost
of the technology is also shared.
To date, InfoBridge has succeeded in collecting only half of the Property Tax.
It is thinking of adopting some stern measures....... Wait for the next
thrilling instalment!