Maravi

(STICKY) It's floods again

COMMENT - It is flood season again. I would like to suggest that the President and Vice President, rather than encourage people to move to higher ground, get the army involved and start digging irrigation works and start forrestation, that can prevent these floods as well as store water for agricultural use. This is not brain surgery, and will not only prevent loss of life and property to flooding, but also create jobs.

It's floods again
By Edwin Mbulo in Livingstone and Fridah Nkonde in Lusaka
Wed 28 Nov. 2012, 14:10 CAT

MOST areas in Lusaka and Livingstone have been flooded after a downpour which started on Monday night through yesterday.

In Livingstone, Southern Province minister Josephine Limata's official residence has been flooded and her family evacuated to Protea Hotel. And in Lusaka, most areas were flooded after the heavy rains.

The rains which started in the late afternoons in Livingstone got heavy in the evening and also destroyed the footbridge near the central police station.

Southern Province police commissioner, Charity Katanga, who rushed to the minister's residence on Monday around 20:30 hours, said the minister's residence was flooded to almost a meter high by the kitchen side.

"The waters were high above the floor and children tried to use buckets to scoop the waters out. We later called in fire brigade to pump the water out. You need to realise that this house was recently rehabilitated and the family had to seek refuge somewhere," said Katanga.

However, Southern Province deputy permanent secretary, Alfred Chiingi, said Limata's family of about five and an elderly woman had to be relocated to Protea Hotel between 20 and 21:00 hours.

Limata was reported to be in Lusaka for official duties.
A spot-check at the residence yesterday morning revealed the abandoned house still flooded with most household goods such as refrigerators still under water while police officers kept vigil.

And the heavy rains left a lot of Livingstone residents stranded on Monday evening as some taxi drivers opted to park their vehicles.

The rains also left a trail of destruction to some roads and flooded houses in several residential places especially Maramba's Malota compound.
The footbridge over the railline built in 1977 and recently rehabilitated after a train accident was partially washed away too.

And most people in flood prone areas like Kuku compound in Lusaka are still hesitating to relocate, saying that they will wait for their homes to be submerged.

A spot-check by The Post found most of the roads in Garden compound flooded and both pedestrians and motorists struggling to find their way around.
School-going children were seen taking off their shoes in order to cross the roads while others were wearing gumboots.

Garden compound market was so flooded that most of the shops were closed and those that were brave enough to open their shops stood outside their shops watching the flood waters helplessly.

Meanwhile in the industrial area, Chandwe Musonda Road overflowed with rain water.

"All this water that you are seeing on this road is from this drainage here … I am sure you can't even see that there is a drainage here because it has been flooded," one of the guards at Chandwe Musonda shopping complex, Joel Mulenga, said.

Mulenga said it was unfortunate that most of the drainages around the industrial area were not efficient.

And a 37-year-old woman of Lusaka's Kuku compound, Fatima Moyo, said she was convinced that her family would not be affected by the floods despite government's advice to the residents living in quarry areas to voluntarily relocate in view of the impending floods.

Meanwhile, another Kuku compound resident Friday Mukuka said it was impossible for people to leave the homes that they had spent money building and go somewhere, where they would start paying rentals.

Labels: ALFRED CHIINGI, FLOODS, JOSEPHINE LIMATA, LIVINGSTONE, LUSAKA

posted by MrK @ 5:13 PM