MUTARE– Civic groups have appealed to government to expedite construction of houses for victims of Cyclone Idai amid revelations that at least 200 households are still living in makeshift tents one year after the devastating cyclone.
Speaking on the sidelines of a regional climate change indaba, Amnesty International Zimbabwe advocacy and research officer Lloyd Kuveya said victims of the cyclone have questioned the slow pace of relocation.
“We are saying to the government and development partners are you aware of this, because when we went to visit people were asking this question for how long are we supposed to live in tents before we start living in proper houses.
“We had no answer, so this is what we now need to discuss as stakeholders, that’s why we have invited government to hear for themselves what we have documented as civic society and bring it to their attention.
“As civic society, we want to come together to look for strategies of how we can assist these people, these discussions will not end here but we will have a Climate Week in Uganda, where African countries will discuss the impacts of climate change,” said Kuveya.
Provincial chair of the Civil Protection Unit, Edgars Seenza said government was seized with providing decent shelter to all victims of the disaster regardless of whether they owned a house before the cyclone.
“We have 230 households but that number is likely to go down because the district committee carried out a verification exercise, there is a figure which will be slightly less than that because there were other chancers who had occupied the tents.
“As we rebuild we will make reference to the Civil Protection Act, whose provisions considers those who were affected even if they were lodgers they will have to be considered for accommodation,” said Seenza.
Dr Ellen Gwaradzimba, Minister of State for Provincial Affairs said the extensive devastation of Cyclone Idai was still felt in the province one year later, as government grapples to rebuild damaged infrastructure.
“It is sad to note that we have marked one year after our citizens and the country at large experienced the worst disaster in living memory Cyclone Idai and the traumatic experience still haunts us.
“Property and infrastructure was extensively damaged and resulting in the displacement of our people some of who are still living in tents…but our focus is now on the restoration of infrastructure like roads, bridges and schools to ensure that our people can restructure their lives.
“We are focusing on preplanning to ensure we have sustainable settlements, early warning systems and we hope this dialogue informs government in disaster preparedness, mitigation strategies as well as possible preparation steps in light of natural disaster looming,” said Dr Gwaradzimba.
