‘Govt ready to deal with natural disasters’

Farirai Machivenyika

Senior Reporter

The Government is ready to deal with any natural disasters this rainy season, the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Ziyambi Ziyambi, said yesterday.

Speaking during the National Assembly’s Question and Answer session, Minister Ziyambi said the Civil Protection Unit was on standby to offer assistance in case of storms or floods.

The questions arose following storms that hit Mberengwa district resulting in the death of a Grade Three pupil at Mahindi Primary School after she was hit by debris from a collapsing roof of a shop where she had sought shelter.

Twenty-two schools, 54 homesteads and two district hospitals were also damaged by the rains.

“Government through the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works has activated its structures under the Civil Protection Unit to render assistance if an area has been affected by storms or floods,” Minister Ziyambi said.

District committees under the district development coordinators had been directed to react swiftly to any disasters in their areas of jurisdiction.

The Meteorological Services Department has forecast that heavy rains will fall in most parts of the country this week.

Meanwhile, Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Felix Mhona says it is illegal for motorists to install LED spotlights on their vehicles whose blinding brightness has been attributed as one of the causes of road accidents.

“It is illegal for motorists to add such lights on their vehicles as they have contributed to the number of accidents we’re experiencing on our roads,” Minister Mhona said.