Chronicle Editor
Judith Phiri, Sunday News Reporter
HEAVY rains and floods have affected close to 1 900 households in the country, something that could have been avoided if local authorities had followed the law and taken guidance given by relevant planning authorities.
In a statement to mark World Wetlands Day on Tuesday, Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Minister Mangaliso Ndlovu said statistics from the preliminary assessments have revealed that flooding that has affected households in the country was a human error that could have been avoided.
He said preliminary assessments have revealed that flooding was affecting more than 250 households in areas around Budiriro 5 and 2, parts of Sunway City close to Zimre park, sections of Willowcreek and Goodhope in the Mount Hampden area, all being some of the affected suburbs in Harare.
About 1500 houses in Chitungwiza municipality are experiencing the same hostile flooding, in the sections of Unit N, Unit A, Unit M, Unit O and J, Zengeza 4 and Manyame area. Similar sad reports are coming from the cities of Mutare and Gweru.
Indications are that about 10 houses in Chikanga area in Mutare were flooded while in Gweru 139 houses in areas such as Tinshell, Mambo, Claremont Park, Riverside, Nashville, Athnol and Woodlands were affected by the flooding.
“Rural communities have not been spared either, we will strengthen our oversight on communal settlements and implore Rural District Councils to provide clear guidelines on appropriate settlement areas.
“The statistics all point to human error which could have been avoided, if city fathers had followed the laid down laws of the land, and taken guidance given by relevant planning authorities seriously.
“As Minister responsible for averting environmentally related disasters l call upon all planning authorities both rural and urban to work closely with Environmental Management Agency in ensuring that, the Environmental Impact Assessment legislation is adhered to in all developmental projects,” said Minister Ndlovu.
He added that non-compliance to the requirement will leave his Ministry without choice but to apply the law to stop future loss of property and human lives from such extreme weather events which according to climate change are predicted to become frequent and more severe as witnessed by the rain season.
Minister Ndlovu also noted that it was a sign that people cannot cheat nature and get off the hook, hence his plea to all citizens was to follow due procedure before undertaking development activities in such ecosystems.
“Remember wetlands and water are inseparable and nature has a way of fighting back as is happening in residential areas built on wetlands where flooding is taking place. Let us protect wetlands for our future generations so that they derive the same benefits we are enjoying today. In this regard, I call upon all citizens and stakeholders to partner my Ministry and the Government in this endeavour to ensure that these critical ecosystems are protected.”
He also noted that his Ministry was working towards finalising the Zimbabwe National Wetland Policy and the Ecologically Sensitive Areas Management Guidelines, whose gazetting is aimed at cultivating a culture of sustainable management of wetlands.
This year the commemoration of the World Wetlands Day was under the theme “Water and Wetlands- Inseparable for Life”, a theme that sought to impress on the importance of wetlands as a source of freshwater and to implore on their conservation and garner for action towards restoring the degraded wetlands and stop any further wetland loss.
Minister Ndlovu added: “It is sad and shocking to note that globally, we are losing wetlands three times faster than natural forests and wetland-dependent species are in serious decline. Consequently, about 87 percent of the global wetland resource has been lost since 1700. Population growth, urbanization and consumption patterns have put unbearable pressure on wetlands and the water in them. As a nation, we are bound to lose all our wetlands by 2040 if we remain in this business as usual mode.”
He encouraged citizens to employ the integrated catchment management approach to wetlands restoration and protection projects for sustainability in conservation efforts by supporting projects such as horticulture, beekeeping, orchards and aquaculture which will go a long way in improving livelihood options for the local people in the various wetland projects areas.
In Zimbabwe, wetlands make up approximately four percent of the country including dams and lakes. Of the available wetlands in the country, a meagre 21 percent are stable while 18 percent are severely degraded and 61 percent moderately degraded.
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