KITWE FLOOD VICTIMS FUME
We are now wondering if the promise of providing us with land and building material will come to pass because we cannot see anything moving as at now. We feel things will continue being the same that is why we think going back to our homes will help.
OVER 500 flood victims in Kitwe that have been temporarily accommodated at Buchi Hotel for four months now, have complained that the conditions are getting unbearable and that they would rather go back to their previous locations.
The victims said that they were tired of waiting to be allocated alternative land as earlier promised by the local authority.
Most of the flood victims lost their items when their houses collapsed in Bulangililo, Mufuchani, Musonda, Mwaiseni and other townships during the last rainy season.
"We are now wondering if the promise of providing us with land and building material will come to pass because we cannot see anything moving as at now. We feel things will continue being the same that is why we think going back to our homes will help," one of the victims Chila Mambwe said.
Mr Mambwe complained that families at the facility had not been living under proper conditions a situation he said was worrying.
Another victim, Memory Chileshe, complained of poor sanitation and appealed for quick re- allocation of alternative plots. She said cleanliness was difficult to maintain, given the high population of people that was accommodated there. Ms Chileshe said that the state of affairs was giving them sleepless nights as they feared that there would be an outbreak of diseases. "With the outbreak of the corona virus, we do not feel safe at all because there is no social distancing here and coming from different backgrounds, we may not know how the other family lives and moves," another visibly angry victim Aaron Chimya said. But Kitwe City Council Town Clerk, Mbulo Seke, told the Daily Nation that land for the victims had finally been identified at the former council farms in Kafue Park. Mr Seke said that the council would today provide a report to the committee for the allocation of the land to the flood victims. "We would only need a month to source for resources from the disaster management and mitigation unit for the opening of access roads before we can allocate. The good thing is that land has been identified for them," the Town Clerk said.
He however called on the victims to remain patient as the local authority was doing everything possible to ensure that they were resettled.