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Thobekile Khumalo, Sunday News Reporter
SOME families who were resettled at Tshino in Tsholotsho District have moved back to their flood prone areas at a time when the rainy season has started because the houses they were earmarked for have not been completed.
A total of 859 villagers were resettled in the area after they were displaced from various villages in Tsholotsho in 2017 following floods that destroyed their homes and also killed some of their livestock.
The Government responded by relocating the families first to a temporary shelter at Sipepa Hospital and then started building houses for them at Tshino and Esawudweni villages.
In an interview, Minister of State for Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs Cde Richard Moyo said some of the houses have not been completed, forcing some of the villagers to retrace their way to their original villages.
“The Government has not yet finished building houses for victims of Tsholotsho floods but 269 of the 319 houses at the moment have been completed and the remaining nearing completion,” he said.
Cde Moyo said he has spoken to the newly appointed Minister of National Housing and Social Amenities Cde Daniel Garwe about the issue so that something could be done.
“He has promised to prioritise the matter since the rainy season has started and said he is working on trying to source funds in order to finish the project.
“At the moment I am not aware when the project will be finished but I have a meeting with the minister next week to find out if he managed to source funds so that we work towards the completion of the remaining houses,” said Cde Moyo.
He said villagers who have yet been allocated houses, if they can, must help in contributing money for the construction of the remaining houses.
“The ones that have not yet received their houses from the Government should work hand in hand by helping build the houses so that when the funds are sourced, they find them near completion and the process becomes easy.
“The challenge is that villagers are moving back from where they were relocated especially those that have not received their houses because they say that their farms are paddocks and the soil is fertile.
“So, we have encouraged them to go and feed their livestock but when the rainy season approach, they should go back to where they were relocated,” he said.
There are already fears that some areas will be affected by floods this year.
@thobekilekae
Online Reporter