The ManicaPost
Tendai Gukutikwa
Post Correspondent
GOVERNMENT has relocated 39 more Cyclone Idai survivors to new houses at Runyararo Farm near Nhedziwa.
The survivors have been staying in tents in Ngangu area of Chimanimani after their houses were destroyed by the March 2019 devastating Cyclone Idai.
In an interview, Chimanimani District Development Coordinator (DDC), Mr Joseph Manyurapasi said a total of 39 families were relocated from the temporary tent camps to permanent structures at Runyararo Farm last week on Friday.
“Government wanted to make sure that every survivor has proper housing facilities before the onset of the rainy season, and I am glad to announce that last week on Friday, we managed to relocate 39 households to Bumba. They will be housed in pre-fabricated structures at Runyararo Farm. With roofs over their heads, we are rest assured that they will be protected from the vagaries of the weather,” he said.
The new residential area in Bumba has been renamed ‘Runyararo’, signifying the tranquillity and peace the relocation brings to survivors after the struggles they faced during the Cyclone Idai disaster and its aftermath.
Chimanimani Rural District Council Ward 15 councillor, Councillor Panganai Chirongera, said Government was fulfilling its promise of availing accommodation to all Cyclone Idai survivors.
“When President Mnangagwa commissioned the Jopa-Kopa Road recently, he reiterated Government’s pledge of according decent accommodation to all Cyclone Idai survivors.
“We are hopeful that everyone will get a piece of land at Runyararo as the land is there to accommodate everyone,” he said.
Mr Ephraim Maunze-Muchawaya, who is one of those relocated to Runyararo, said the move came at a very opportune time as they feared that they would endure another rainy season dwelling in the tents.
“We had a lot of fears, chief among them enduring another rainy season being housed in the tents. I want to thank Government for its efforts because lives in the tents was unbearable for the past two years,” he said.
Another beneficiary, Ms Jenifer Kamahembe said: “I am delighted because previously, I did not have anywhere to call my own home. I was a tenant in Ngangu, but now the relocation has brought so much joy to my family as finally we now have a place we can call home. This will be home to my children and grandchildren.”
