NOW that the rain season is upon us it is appalling that Binga and Tsholotsho flood victims ‘are still living in tents and surviving from donations offered by churches and non-governmental organisations.
Both districts of Matabeleland North were affected by cyclone Dineo which ravaged houses and livestock in low lying plains after rivers flooded.
In Tsholotsho, villagers at Sipepa, Tshino and adjacent villages were left to count their losses after the cyclone descended upon them.
In recent years, Tsholotsho district has been hit by floods. This is compounded by the long dry spells coupled with high temperatures, which have made farming impossible in the district.
All this has left villagers residing in tents in penury and suffering.
The countryside economy is by and large driven by farming and cattle ranching, and the marooned villagers do not have places to farm nor the capital required.
Turning to Binga, floods hit the district this year on 14 February in a village called Nsungwaale under chief Sinakoma. The village is about 40 kilometres away from Binga Centre.
The Binga families were displaced when the Nemakondi, Sikanda and Sibwabwa rivers flooded.
The government promised to build the villagers houses but they are still incomplete.
The tent housing of flood victims in both district was a short term accommodation and a stop gap measure to ensure relief for the affected people.
By their nature, tents, are short term housing used for example in camping. With that thinking and reasoning most people thought that the tents were short term.
But, lo and behold, it appears that the tents are now the permanent residence of the suffering villagers, who are still reeling financially and emotionally from the ruthless natural phenomenon.
Now, the tents are worn out and some have fell to the ground. Reports reveal that some villagers have gone back to their former huts and are trying to reconstruct them.
This year the government is projecting a lot of rainfall under the Al Nina phenomenon.
What this means is that floods are likely to occur in low lying places.
Still living in tents how will the villagers survive the floods? They will not be able to farm because government has failed to provide them with alternate pieces of land and inputs.
What this means is that they will fail dismal to generate income and they will still depend on aid and donations.
All this exposes the failure by government to alleviate the anguish of the victims.
They should be resettled to high lying plains. Further, they should be given farming inputs to enable them to farm.
The misery of the flood victims will force some of them to emigrate to neighbouring countries and take up low paying jobs.
The government must begin to take its citizens seriously and respect them. We cannot continue like this. We simply cannot
