News / Regional
Govt to assist Tsholotsho villagers with food aid
08 Mar 2014 at 13:03hrs | Views
Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo says government is working on providing food aid to Tsholotsho villagers who were affected by floods.
Chombo was part of a ministerial task force on disaster preparedness and management that toured Tsholotsho via helicopter to assess damages caused by floods in the area, Radio Dialogue reported.
The task force headed by senior minister in the office of the President Simon Khaya Moyo and included Transport minister Obert Mpofu, Home affairs minister Kembo Mohadi and Information minister Jonathan Moyo.
"After the tour, we noted that there was not much damage to infrastructure and the Tsholotsho district civil protection unit is working on finding building materials for the few who had their homes destroyed in the floods," Chombo said.
"However, the water destroyed the villagers' crops. Our challenge now is finding food to distribute to the flood victims from now that will continue for the next 12 months. The villagers are in urgent need of food aid and we will do our best to ensure that they do not starve."
Chombo revealed that they had sourced 30 tonnes of maize, 3 tonnes of mealie meal and Kapenta for the flood victims.
"The food has to be complemented seeing that most of the affected flood victims would not be able to harvest anything from their fields due to the destruction cause by the floods," Chombo said.
He said in future some of the affected villagers would need to consider relocating from their respective areas to higher ground so that they do not fall victim to flooding every rainy season.
Chombo was part of a ministerial task force on disaster preparedness and management that toured Tsholotsho via helicopter to assess damages caused by floods in the area, Radio Dialogue reported.
The task force headed by senior minister in the office of the President Simon Khaya Moyo and included Transport minister Obert Mpofu, Home affairs minister Kembo Mohadi and Information minister Jonathan Moyo.
"After the tour, we noted that there was not much damage to infrastructure and the Tsholotsho district civil protection unit is working on finding building materials for the few who had their homes destroyed in the floods," Chombo said.
Chombo revealed that they had sourced 30 tonnes of maize, 3 tonnes of mealie meal and Kapenta for the flood victims.
"The food has to be complemented seeing that most of the affected flood victims would not be able to harvest anything from their fields due to the destruction cause by the floods," Chombo said.
He said in future some of the affected villagers would need to consider relocating from their respective areas to higher ground so that they do not fall victim to flooding every rainy season.
Source - Radio Dialogue
