Chronicle EditorMunyaradzi Chamalimba Herald Reporter
Government will look for land to resettle families currently living in a squatter camp at Stapleford destroyed by fire recently, Zvimba East legislator Cde Francis Mukwangwariwa has said. Two people were burnt to death while 75 houses were gutted down by veld fire.
Speaking at a handover ceremony of goods to the victims, Cde Mukwangwariwa applauded the President’s Fund for the assistance. The President’s Fund assisted the affected families with 25 cabins, blankets and utensils worth thousands of dollars.
“Zvimba Rural District Council is already looking for land for these people, so that they can live in peace and harmony in a linear settlement, which do not put their lives in danger.
“We are already in the zone of the new city, which will soon become a reality and we cannot afford to have a shanty town in between,” he said. These houses are made of clay and mud, which increases chances of them being gutted down by fire. This is a huge task and it needs all departments of Government to come together and provide a lasting solution so as to put an end to such disasters.” Speaking at the same event, President’s Fund vice chairperson Mrs Getrude Chikwava expressed gratitude to all those who have assisted the fire victims.
“Although we cannot expunge the trauma these families faced when they helplessly watched as their worldly goods were in flames, we can provide these families with shelter and other basic goods, which we hope will go some way towards alleviating the desperate plight” she said. One of the beneficiaries Mrs Pesanai Jack welcomed the timely intervention by the fund.
“l lost all my belongings in the inferno. I was traumatised, especially by losing my only shelter which had taken time to build. This is an early Christmas treat as l can now have something to protect me from the scorching sun and the forthcoming rains,” she said.
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