AROUND the onset of the rainy season, we published — on this very page — an article headlined “Revisit disaster preparedness to avoid calamities”, which highlighted local authorities’ persistent failure to take disaster preparedness seriously.
It now appears councils, including Harare, have learnt nothing and forgotten nothing. Barely two months after warning that storm-water drains must be cleared ahead of the rains — as they should be every year — heavy downpours once again triggered flooding in several communities.
Recently, flooding was recorded at Mabvuku infill stands, the much-publicised Glen View 7 housing area in Harare, parts of Marondera, and houses in Chitungwiza’s Zengeza 4 suburb near Pagomba — just a stone’s throw from the municipality’s offices.
Many other affected areas went unreported. In all these cases, flooding posed a serious threat to both human life and property.
The blame lies squarely with local authorities. Councils have for years allowed developers and land barons to erect structures and sell residential stands on wetlands and other unapproved sites. Worse still, repeated warnings about the likelihood of flooding and the urgent need to clear storm-water drains have gone largely unheeded.
The consequences are predictable. Floodwaters submerged vehicles, inundated homes and destroyed some entirely, while roads were badly gullied, exposing a disturbing level of infrastructure neglect.
As we noted in our earlier article, Zimbabwe’s disaster preparedness remains reactive rather than preventive. Authorities wait for calamity to strike before responding, yet many of these disasters are avoidable.
Councils must enforce regulations without compromise. Wetlands should never be opened up for residential development under any circumstances.
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Elsewhere, routine maintenance — such as clearing storm-water drains — should be carried out at least annually, while consistent refuse collection would help keep neighbourhoods clean and reduce public health risks.
Crucially, only local authorities should allocate residential stands. Yet time and again, known land barons openly sell land earmarked for other purposes, often with councils looking on.
We must also spare a thought for residents who have borne the brunt of this negligence — those whose homes and property were destroyed not by nature alone, but by the failure of their local authorities to prepare adequately.
It is disingenuous for some councils to shift blame onto developers or residents who built the houses when, in many cases, these developments took place in full view of municipal officials and were even billed for rates and services.
Both local authorities and central government must take the lead in ensuring that disaster preparedness and management are treated as national imperatives.
These cannot remain episodic, ad hoc responses. The human and economic costs of inaction are simply too ghastly to contemplate.
