Government not showing real commitment on Tokwe Mukosi Dam risk

ZBC only mentioned the Tokwe Mukorsi crisis on its main news this evening 30 minutes into the bulletin. ZBC stated that the Minister of Defence and 4 other Ministers visited the scene and hinted at the crisis - but ZBC did not state that the dam is leaking and under serious threat and it also did not show the water pouring out.

Whilst the report mentioned that thousands of people may be affected downstream and that if the wall did not hold it would result in an 18 metre wall of water going downstream it did not issue a strident warning. In fact the only warning came from the met report at the end of the bulletin when they advised that they are expecting 40mm of rain in the dam's catchment area on Thursday and that people should prepare for serious flooding.

Looking at photographs of the wall and the current water level it seems to me that if the catchment has further heavy rain it will be difficult for the uncompleted dam to hold all the flood waters.

Surely if there is even a slight possibility that this dam will break urgent measures should be taken now to move all in the possible path of this wall of water to be moved?

Surely we should also be urgently seeking the advice of experts from other countries who have experience in floods? We need to know what the worst possible flood height, width and length could be. We need to urgently be doing computer models of where the water would go if this dam bursts. We need to be mobilising the army, police and airforce, to be alerting and assisting all those downstream to move to higher ground.

It may be of course that my fears are misplaced - that I am ignorant of the reality of the situation or what is being done. But those fears are born of the lack of information by the Government.

Had this crisis been the first item of news and full details given of the current situation and what is being done to warn people then I am sure the public would feel less concerned.