Zanu PF assist Mutare floods victims
THE newly elected Zanu PF Mutare District Coordination Committee (DCC) has hit the ground running by donating groceries to families affected by flash floods which hit Mutare last weekend.
Heavy rains received last Friday night left a trail of destruction in the city.
Speaking during the handover ceremony on Monday, Mutare DCC chairperson, Cde Binali Yard, said: “This is just a start of more things to come. We are in the process of engaging partners to ensure that all those who were affected by the rains get some form of assistance.
“It is really sad that while we want rains to water our thriving crops, the same rains are bringing anguish to residents just like what we have witnessed here. However, we are grateful that no life was lost. We will be visiting you (victims) now and then and ensure that your lives get back to normal.”
It was a sorry sight last Saturday morning as residents scooped mud from their houses, while others were excavating rubbles to recover broken pieces of furniture.
Most of the affected residents did not know where their next meal would come from after their foodstuffs were either washed away or soaked in the mud and given the current Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, the area plunged into a state of a humanitarian crises.
So heavy was last Friday’s rainfall that part of the nearby railway line to Harare was badly damaged as concrete beneath the iron bars was washed away.
Roads in Dreamhouse and Zimta that were in a deplorable state were rendered impassable.
Mutare District Development Coordinator, Mr Wilson Bore, said: “We sent a team on the ground and the report that I received shows that no one needs evacuation. There is need for assistance in terms of food and clothes as some residents lost everything. In this regard, we have started the process of mobilising input from partners as well as Government. The Department of Social Welfare is now on the ground to address that. We have also informed National Railways of Zimbabwe to repair part of the
railway line that was badly damaged.”
According to the Meteorological Services Department, Mutare received 57 millimetres last Thursday and Friday cumulatively.
Manicaland chief meteorological officer, Mr Lucas Murambi, said: “What we are experiencing is the normal rainfall pattern for January for Mutare, but in the past three or four years we have not been receiving the same rains. However, going into the past, the amount of rainfall we are getting this year especially this month us the normal one for Mutare. Because of that, the water table has risen and any rains that will be received from now on may result in flooding in affected areas (Dreamhouse and Zimta).”
Meanwhile, Mutare City Council recently passed a resolution to adopt the ZIMTA housing scheme.
In a statement, Mutare City Council
spokesperson, Mr Spren Mutiwi, said the local authority has already started implementing emergency measures to address flooding problem in the area.
“So far, council has committed US$10 000 towards emergency works, drainage construction and opening. Council requires US$15 000 to complete the temporary emergency repair works, but the national lockdown measures have affected resources mobilisation.
“The mitigation measures being carried out include drainage opening, removing silt and opening blocked culverts. Council had to hire the relevant equipment to carry out the works at a significant cost. We are now forced to attend to attend to issues which were supposed to be carried out by the private land developer, who after pocketing money failed to execute the work. Some have disappeared from the scene,” said Mr Mutiwi.
He added: “Engagement with the beneficiaries is yet to be carried out so that an agreed financing model can be arrived at. Council is grappling with legacy issues of uncompleted serviced suburbs. What is most disturbing is that almost all of the private land developers with outstanding works, cannot be accounted for, while some have disappeared leaving the bulk of basic infrastructure uncompleted.
“Therefore it is important for residents whose suburbs were serviced by private land developers to understand that the responsibility to put sound service infrastructure is purely the prerogative of the land developer. Council will only come in to inspect and approve or disapprove the works. Council will only take full ownership and responsibility of the suburbs after issuing out the certificate of completion and the subsequent project hand over process.”