By Derick Tsimba
Government with the aid of the international community remains determined to provide permanent solutions for Cyclone Idai victims who have been left devastated following the most cataclysmic natural disaster to ever to ever the Southern hemisphere.
Much is being done by Government towards alleviating the welfare of the affected families so as to ensure their lives retain to normalcy. Challenges being faced by the victims of the Cyclone range from access to health services, food, accommodation, access to clean water, road networking, and educational facilities amongst others.
As a way to ensure that health services are back to normal, Government of Zimbabwe through the Manicaland Civil Protection Unit (CPU) Health Subcommittee has deployed health specialists and opened up treatment centres in Manicaland with close to 50 Doctors working under the rescue operation. Forty-three (43) of these doctors are from the Ministry of Health and Child Care, five (5) from Presbyterian Church and three (3) from Zimbabwe Doctors for Human Rights.
Medical provisions continue to arrive in the country from the international community. Recently, consignments of six (6) medical assortments came from the Tanzanian Government and have since been delivered at Silverstream in Chimanimani. The country still awaits the arrival of twenty-six (26) more assortments which are expected to assist a lot of people facing health problems induced by cyclone Idai. Although treatment of patients has been accelerated, patients need to be provided with temporary shelter for them to recuperate. Government has stepped up efforts to solve challenges in discharging treated patients since they have nowhere to go after their treatment.
Thousands of homes have been destroyed by Cyclone Idai and it has left people in desperate need of accommodation. Government through the Ministry of Local Government and Public works has since dedicated itself to come up with a housing model that should be suitable for construction in the Cyclone hit areas. The model should be resistant to harsh weather conditions such as those experienced in Manicaland and save human lives. Government on this note has already engaged partners in the public sector and Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to spearhead the completion of an approved housing model and construction of houses should commence not later than April 2019.
Cyclone Idai also destroyed infrastructure such as boreholes, water pipe lines, roads and dams. The water situation had become very critical; people had to resort to fetching water from distant places like Tanganda Estates for daily use. Government through the District Development Fund (DDF) has managed to commence the process of repairing all damaged boreholes and also more borehole are in the process of being drilled at the temporarily shelter sites.
Having been declared a natural disaster site, Manicaland infrastructure needs development from road networking, dam walls and schools to mention just a few. In this light Government has since unveiled $100 million towards the assistance of the victims of Cyclone Idai. The funding by Government of Zimbabwe should go a long way in the restoration of the afore-mentioned infrastructure developmental needs.
The international community continues to assist Zimbabwe. Recently United Arab Emirates (UAE), South Africa, Botswana, United Nations (UN) and Britain amongst other nations have continued to extend their helping hand to Zimbabwe during its time of need.
