By Chitrest
The heavy that continue to pound most parts of the country have destroyed 21 houses in St Mary’s suburb of Chitungwiza and has led to flooding in most suburbs that were built on wetlands which do not have proper drainage systems.
As of yesterday, the prevailing La Nina-influenced weather patterns had destroyed a total of 21 households in St. Mary’s, Chitungwiza leaving a trail of destruction in other suburbs in the town and flooding being experienced in most low-lying areas. Those areas with poor drainage systems are the most affected by the prevailing weather patterns.
A tour conducted by a delegation comprising officials from the District
Administrator’s office, Chitungwiza Municipality, Civil Protection Unit (CPU), the Member of Parliament for St. Mary’s and representatives of residents revealed that the severely affected area is ward 3 where 17 households were destroyed leaving their occupants homeless. The other 4 households destroyed by the heavy rains last week were in ward 1 and 8.
In ward 1 the houses that were destroyed were those that were built long ago when the area was commonly referred to as CA, an abbreviation for Central African Airways.
“The 3 houses destroyed were remnants of properties that were built by the then Central African Airways for its workers way back in the early 1950s and these might have outlived their life spans,” said Councillor Tichaona Muchakwa of ward 1 in St. Mary’s
Councillor Tendai Saimon of ward 3 blamed the destruction of homes and flooding in his ward on poor drainage systems, lack of preparedness by relevant authorities and the recently experienced heavy rains.
“We had not envisaged such a situation occurring as a result of heavy rains, and generally our drainage systems are not up to standard as some of our storm water drains are blocked at the moment,” said Tendai Saimon Councillor of ward 3.
