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Conrad Mupesa Mash West Bureau
Construction of properties without required supervision by the Kadoma City Council, poor drainage and low-quality building materials have seen 78 Kadoma families suffer the unprecedented consequences of global climate change.
At least 78 families from Pixcombe and Rimuka suburbs and surrounding rural areas of the city were Wednesday afternoon left counting their losses after a heavy hailstorm and thunder storm hit the city.
A mother and two children from Pixcombe was injured during the violent storm.
Five schools, including Jameson High, were also affected by the rains although learning activities were not interrupted.
Various shops, including TM Pick n Pay, closed early on Wednesday as flash floods affected the supermarket, while many roads in the town were impassable due to flooding.
A Pixcombe resident, Mr Matthew Sabiti, whose five-bedroomed house was brought to the ground, said he was preparing to move into the house this December.
“This is a huge blow to me and my family,” he said. “I was preparing to move into the new house as we are renting. I have lost nearly US$3 000 that I had invested in the building.”
Another resident, Ms Tendai Mandivava, narrated how she saved a neighbour, who with her child had been injured by falling bricks from a house that was also damaged by the storm.
Memory Makanga of Rimuka’s Westview said she was looking for a house to rent after the one she was using together with other tenants had its whole roof blown away.
Jameson High School head, Mr Abenol Matsiwe, said although the roof to one of the hostels had been damaged, pupils were not affected.
Speaking to the media after visiting some of the affected families and schools, Mashonaland West civil protection department chairman and permanent secretary in the office of Minister of State for Provincial and Devolution for Mashonaland West, Mr Josphat Jaji, said the department was still trying to verify the extent of the damage.
He confirmed that over 50 houses in the town and 24 in the rural areas had been severely damaged.
“Most of the houses affected are in Pixcombie and the properties were in different levels of construction,” said Mr Jaji.
“Five schools have also been affected with Jameson High having been the worst affected with a roof at one of it’s hostels having been blown off. No one was injured at the schools.
“We are still to come up with an assessment report that will be detailed on what is needed and who needs help.”
Mr Jaji took Kadoma City Council to task and conduct due diligence when inspecting buildings under construction amid revelations that many that were destroyed were poorly built.
He said the council also needed to work on its drainage system.
Last year, families in Rimuka and Destiny suburbs lost valuables worth thousands after flash floods that also exposed them to health dangers.
Online Reporter