By Bevan Musoko & Charles Motsi

Government is working on resettling survivors of the devastating Cyclone Idai which hit hardest Chimanimani and Chipinge Districts in March 2019, destroying homes and shattering livelihoods for thousands of people in the two districts.

Chimanimani Assistant District Development Coordinator, Llyod Kasima told Harare Post that two farms, Bumba and Nedziwa, with over a thousand hectares have been secured for allocation of stands to cyclone survivors.

“Government has already identified two farms, Bumba and Nedziwa for resettling over 200 families still housed in tents in the two Districts. As we speak, pegging of stands is almost complete and we hope to allocate the stands as soon as the physical planners finish their technical surveys and pegging. We hope that by the end of the year, there would be meaningful progress,” said Kasima.

The identification of the farms comes as a breath of fresh air to survivors who are still housed in tents in Ngangu Township and Kopa Business Centre who are now faced with worsening living conditions with the coming of the rainy season.

Kasima also revealed that World Vision is building permanent homes for the cyclone victims in communal areas of Chimanimani and more houses have been pledged by other partners who are complementing Government efforts.

One of the affected, James Ndiyadzo expressed hope that Government would expedite stand allocation for the affected families to focus on building new livelihoods. He also thanked Government and various co-operating partners, such as World Vision and Red Cross for various interventions with social services for the survivors.

“Now that Government has identified land for our relocation, we are more optimistic on our future as living conditions in the tents are becoming worse by the day.

“So far Government has been with us throughout this crisis and they have pledged to do more, we are just thankful that Government and other partners like Red Cross and the World Food Program have done so much,” said Ndiyadzo.

Harare Post had the opportunity to visit the tents at Ngangu and interact with families housed there who revealed that while grateful for the temporary shelter, they are keen to have residential stands of their own to build permanent structures.

Some affected residents expressed a wish to re-locate from Ngangu altogether, citing yet to be confirmed reports that the area still remains vulnerable to natural disasters.

There are three camps in Ngangu housing 171 families, while another camp at Kopa Business Centre is housing around 43 families.

Solar-powered lighting has been installed in all the tents while Chimanimani Rural District Council is supplying water to the families daily.