By Beverly Bizeki
In a long-awaited move, the Masvingo City Council has finally allocated 10 stands to families who were perennially affected by recent floods in the city on Davis Mugabe Street in Runyararo West, bringing relief to the affected families who had been living in temporary shelters during rains.
The council’s decision comes after years of getting empty promises and enduring flooded homes and losing property along the way.
A total of 29 families are being affected and the city council said they are allocating the stands in batches starting with the most affected.
Masvingo City Council Spokesperson Ashley Jinjika confirmed the development to TellZim News and said the stands were being allocated in phases starting with the most affected.
“Council has allocated 10 residential stands to the severely affected flood victims in Davis Mugabe Street as part of ongoing recovery efforts. The serviced residential stands are being allocated in phases beginning with the 10 severely affected followed by 15 which are moderately affected and eventually 14 which are least affected,” said Jinjika.
Jinjika said the move was supposed to provide a permanent solution to the long standing issue and restore stability for the affected families.
“The council’s resolution to allocate stands to flood victims is a significant and compassionate step in the ongoing recovery process. It offers displaced families a fresh start and a sense of security allowing them to rebuild their homes and lives,” said Jinjika.
The Davis Mugabe residents had been getting empty promises from responsible authorities for quite a long time with the relocation promise becoming a pipeline dream.
During the 2022-23 rainy season due to fear that the houses may collapse, Masvingo City Council evacuated affected residents to the District Development Fund offices (DDF) as a temporary measure.
Four mayors, namely Femius Chakabuda (the late), Hubert Fidze, Collen Maboke, Shantiel Chiwara, though short-lived came and left the issue unresolved with residents still suffering the same ordeal of flooded homes.
The Alec Tabe led council becomes the first to come up with tangible efforts to assist the affected families as this comes shortly after the local authority had widened the banks of the stream which passes through the wetland on which the properties were built on.
The families were allocated stands at the confluence of two small streams in the area and the situation is said to be worsened by construction activities in Victoria Ranch.
Some sources said at the time when the stands were allocated, in the mid-2000s, an engineer who was working at townhouse advised against it.
