HEALTH AND CHILD CARE minister David Parirenyatwa’s warning that Chingwizi camp — which has been home to 1 800 families since floods ravaged the Tokwe-Mukosi flood basin in February — is now a health time bomb should be taken seriously.
The families are reportedly resisting relocation from the camp as they want the government to compensate them first.
However, Parirenyatwa who visited the camp this week, noted that the over 20 000 people were living in an environment that is unfit for human habitation.
The minister noted the people at the camp were not working and were idle most of the time, something which is very unhealthy.
There is poor sanitation at the camp, which has no adequate toilets and this has led to fears of a disease outbreak.
Zimbabwe has become prone to some medieval diseases such as typhoid and diarrhoea.
Diseases such as malaria and dysentery have claimed several lives across the country since the beginning of this year.
The possibility of disease outbreaks at Chingwizi camp is made more serious by the fact that the flood victims do not have enough running water, toilets, food or shelter.
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Typhoid has killed three people, diarrhoea 207 while dysentery claimed 35 lives since January this year.
It is a miracle that no deaths have been recorded at the Masvingo camp as a result of these diseases, but it is clear that it is just a question of time.
The villagers are obviously reluctant to leave the camp because they don’t trust the government to honour its promise to compensate them for the loss they suffered during the floods.
Therefore, it is the responsibility of the government to come up with a plan immediately that would assure the villagers that they would not be taken for a ride. Giving the villagers written commitment to compensate them could be another way of getting around the problem.
The flood victims have been at the temporary camp for too long and the government must be seen to be acting as a matter of urgency.
