Sun, 12 Mar 2017 08:41:16 +0000
…as houses collapse and maize fields submerge in water due to floods
By Bennie Mundando
AT LEAST 200 families have been left homeless after their houses collapsed while over 1300 hectares of maize fields have submerged in water in Ngabwe district in Central Province due to a heavy downpour which has also left those across the Kafue River stranded without food.
Ngabwe district chairperson Thabiso Mizinga told the Sunday Nation yesterday that the situation in the area was getting out of hand as the number of people affected was increasing everyday, yet no aid was forthcoming.
Ms. Mizinga said houses have been collapsing on a daily basis as torrential rains have continued in the area leaving people in chief Ngabwe without food as the pontoon they were using had been suspended due to a heavy current.
She said the number of people needing food and shelter was swelling everyday, adding that the affected families were spending nights in the cold as no help from the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) had been rendered, two weeks after the first 50 victims were reported.
She expressed worry that if no immediate alternative solution was found, people, especially those trapped on the other side of chief Ngabwe’s area, would die of hunger as there was no maize or mealie meal which they could buy.
“The situation is now getting out of hand. The number of affected families has now risen from 50 to 200. There is no shelter and enough food to feed the victims and people are spending nights in the cold using whatever means available and the situation is likely to worsen because rains have continued and houses are collapsing every day.
“Over 1300 hectares of crop fields have been submerged in water while another 1832 hectares in under attack from stock borers and so, you can see that this will be a long-lasting problem because even if the rains stopped today, people will still have no food to last until the next harvest because crops have been destroyed. As an immediate measure, people desperately need shelter and food or else, we will soon start losing lives,” Ms. Mizinga said.
