Herzel Mushayabasa
Floods have become the new normal for residents living in New Tafara in the capital Harare as their houses are flooded during the rainy season.
The flooding began when the nation started to experience heavy rainfall patterns in mid-January.
In an interview with this publication, one of the residents, Blah Rocks said, “We are bearing the impact of mvura iri kushaya pekuenda (water that has nowhere to go) because the council allocated stands on wetlands.”
The government through the Ministry of Local Government warned the City of Harare against allocating residential stands on wetlands so as to avoid flooding incidents and the destruction of water sources.
“Water has nowhere to go and that is why it ends up flooding our homes and we switch off the electricity for the entire house in order to sweep out the water,” Nyaradzo Njodzi, a middle-aged housewife from New Tafara said.
A representative of Harare Wetlands Trust, Mrs. Dorothy Wakeling said, “Any plans for development on wetlands should be queried at the District Office, Ministry of Housing and City Planning since it is illegal to build on wetlands. Besides, it is not a good investment to build on wetlands since the houses will crack and are subject to flooding.”