adminSydney Mubaiwa in ZAKA
More than 100 families in Zaka are appealing to Government and non-governmental organisations for tents after their homes were destroyed by violent storms that swept through the district recently.
The worst affected families are in Zaka Central.
The National Assembly member for the area, Cde Davison Svuure, has already appealed to the Civil Protection Unit to intervene to avert a serious humanitarian crisis.
Cde Svuure, who visited some of the affected families last week, appealed to Government and NGOs to chip in with tents and food.
He said others also required financial and material assistance to rebuild their homes.
Cde Svuure said they had since established a disaster committee to mobilise assistance for the affected families.
“We have set up a disaster committee that will co-ordinate mobilisation and extension of assistance to the affected families,” he said. “Some of the victims were left with virtually nothing and they are in a very dire situation.
“‘The magnitude of destruction visited by the storm is too big, most of the homes had their roofs blown off while even schools also emerged worse off during the disaster. We are still to quantify the total damage caused by the storm.”
Cde Svuure said Murerekwa Primary School in his constituency was extensively damaged and there was urgent need to carry out reconstruction to enable classes to resume.
Zaka District Administrator and local CPU chair Mr Ndeya Nyede said provision of tents for temporary shelter was a top priority to mitigate the plight of the affected families.
He said Government would assist them to rebuild their homes, but appealed to well-wishers and development partners to take part in the rebuilding process.
Ward 13 councillor, Cde Manfred Mada, said the violent storms left a trail of destruction in his area with trees uprooted, while infrastructure such as power and telephone lines was extensively damaged.
Online Reporter