Chronicle Editor
Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
THE Civil Protection Unit (CPU) has started mobilising funds to assist scores of Dulivhadzimu suburb residents in Beitbridge who were last week affected by flash floods that hit the border town including other parts of the country.
A total of 165 households in the suburb are in critical need of assistance.
CPU, with the assistance of the International Organisation of Migration (IOM) and Save the Children, chipped in with non-food items, hygiene kits and water containers.
The non-food item kits contained five plates, five mugs, one kitchen knife, a serving spoon, five tablespoons, two pots, two mosquito nets, 20-litre buckets, six aqua tabs, one laminate bag and washing soap.
The worst affected are those people operating at flea markets, hawkers and small businesses near the old long-distance bus terminus located in a low-lying area in Wamlala Stream.
Beitbridge Town Clerk Mr Loud Ramakgapola said there are working on the drainage system.
“This is a disaster we didn’t expect because we are in October. We need to work on the drainage system and restore the water and sewer system and our team is hard on the ground,” he said.
“We hope ZETDC will also work on restoring electricity in that area. As council we are also seeking partners to build new houses so that we relocate residents that are perennially hit by flash flooding every rainy season.”
In the short term, Mr Ramakgapola said the municipality had a team on the ground fixing roads, sewer and water reticulation systems.
District Civil Protection Unit chairperson Mrs Sikhangezile Mafu said a technical team led by Beitbridge Municipality had been set up to look into the immediate needs of the affected families.
The team is also expected to make recommendations on the medium and long-term solutions to address challenges in the area.
“We expect the team to urgently assess the damage and split the numbers of the affected people by age, gender and households so that we may have a clear picture of the extent of help based on each category’s needs,” she said.
“At the same time, we can’t keep talking about the same problem in the same area every rainy season. So, we have tasked the technical team to make recommendations on the long-term solutions.”
Mrs Mafu said the CPU had since engaged local development agencies to complement the Government’s efforts in attending to the immediate needs of businesses and residents in Dulivhadzimu suburb.
They had also alerted the provincial CPU to be on alert considering that the rainy season is expected to to start soon.
Mrs Mafu said sensitisation teams are being sent out to educate people in high flood-risk areas on the dangers and disasters that are prevalent during the rainy season.
“In some instances, we will engage schools, churches, and those with buildings on higher ground to accommodate victims of rain-induced disasters,” she said.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter