Colleen Chitsa
Masvingo Town Clerk Engineer Mukaratirwa has spoken about the council’s plans to relocate flood victims in Runyararo West suburb to other areas as well as mobilizing resources to put up new structures for them.
Speaking during a residents engagement meeting between Masvingo United Residents and Ratepayers Alliance (MURRA) and council at Civic Centre on March 24, Eng. Mukaratirwa said council is undergoing the process of identifying stands for the affected families.
“We have started engaging with government regarding this issue and have concluded that the permanent solution to that situation is relocation of the victims to other safe areas.
“As council, together with government are in the process of identifying stands to relocate those people and mobilize resources to put up some structures in those areas,” said Eng. Mukaratirwa.
He said a total number of 21 properties were affected by the floods but six were more affected and this year they are prioritizing on assisting the six families first.
“Runyararo West’s Davis Mugabe Street is the worst affected and because of the effects of climate change, we do not see the situation getting better anytime soon.
“We have identified 21 properties affected but six are very critical and this year we are targeting those six properties first. What we want to do is, if you had your six bed room plan before the flood, we just build the same plan on another stand for you so that your space that you were used to does not change,” he added.
During the heavy rains that hit Masvingo before Tropical Cyclone Freddy, the affected people were temporarily accommodated at the District Development Fund (DDF) offices in Mucheke suburb.
Challenges have been experienced on properties built on wetlands or along stream banks of Mucheke River which if flooded would extent to the nearby properties.
