Chronicle Editor
Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
THE Civil Protection Unit (CPU) has said several people have approached it claiming to be victims of last week’s floods in Hwange seeking to benefit after well-wishers started bringing donations for those affected.
Hwange received a total of 139mm of rain within three hours on Saturday last week resulting in flash floods that affected 101 families.
The victims were evacuated to a temporary shelter at Hwange Colliery Company guest house where they are still housed.
Various organisations including tour operators under the banner of the Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe, Enlightened Christian Gathering Church in Victoria Falls as well as Higherlife Foundation mobilised an assortment of goods comprising foodstuffs, clothes among others that have been distributed to the victims.
Seeing that the victims were being housed at a lodge and receiving donations almost daily, some people from the affected Number 1 and Cinderella suburbs who were initially not recorded have reportedly come forward claiming they also lost property to the floods, CPU Hwange district chair Mr Simon Muleya, who is the District Development Coordinator, said.
He said the situation is making it difficult to come up with a consolidated number of affected people and bill of quantities.
“The people are still holed up at the guest house but the confusion that’s making us fail to know exactly the number of victims is a result of donations that are coming through. When some residents saw that victims were receiving donations, they started coming through claiming they were also affected,” said Mr Muleya.
Some of those that have claimed to be victims have reportedly joined the others at the guest house.
Mr Muleya said the CPU is at the moment sticking to figures compiled earlier although an assessment is being done. His deputy Mrs Nyaradzo Masoja, who has been chairing the CPU for the past week in his absence, said correct figures will be known during the course of the week after stakeholders are done with the process of consolidating statistics.
The Speaker of Parliament Advocate Jacob Mudenda last week visited the victims where he said there were a total of 101 families affected by the floods. He urged the CPC to list the number of victims according to sex, age and other details to enable Government to determine the kind of assistance the victims need.
Some residents’ privy to the goings on told Chronicle that some of the people claiming to be victims were not affected by the floods. About the fate of the victims, Mr Muleya said Hwange Colliery Company which administers the areas affected by floods was making plans to permanently relocate the victims to alternative houses in safer areas.
“The Colliery management has promised that as soon as better houses are made available the victims will be relocated to those houses and leave the floods prone area. They said the company is paying off its pensioners who are expected to vacate the company houses thereby creating space for the affected families,” said Mr Muleya.
Hwange Colliery spokesperson Ms Rugare Dhobbie said a team has been working on blocked drainages to ensure the calamity does not recur. She said the affected families will be moved to alternative houses once some processes are completed. The floods had also affected the Hwange Power Station expansion project and flooded coal mines which were left covered in water and mud.
The damage that had led to temporary suspension of work has been rectified, according to authorities. — @ncubeleon
Online Reporter