Kitaifa
Samia tasks regions, districts on El Nino downpour impact
President Samia Suluhu Hassan has tasked the regions and districts to take corrective measures against the ongoing El Nino rains in various parts of the country.
She said in Dodoma yesterday that although people had been warned of the possible destruction by ‘above normal’ rains well in advance, some of them took it for granted.
“We spoke about El Nino sometimes ago. But people continue living in flood prone areas,” she said in the capital city when receiving a Sh2 billion donation for the Hanang flood victims.
She specifically expressed her dismay over people who continue to live in the flood prone lowlands and river valleys, especially in towns and cities.
She said the catastrophic Hanang mudslide and flash floods disaster was a wakeup call for people to relocate from the natural water paths to safer areas.
The Head of State added that massive resettlement awaited hundreds of the families who had been displaced by last week’s devastating floods in Hanang District.
The death toll in the killer floods at Katesh town and its environs and Gendabi village – both on the slopes of Mt. Hanang – rose to 87 yesterday.
Hundreds of people have been rendered homeless after their residences were swept by the raging waters, knocked down by huge rocks or swallowed up by mud.
The Head of State told senior government technocrats that the Hanang flood victims would be resettled in safer places away from the natural water paths.
Much of the destruction in both Katesh and Gendabi, according to teams of rescuers on the ground, occurred near the seasonal river beds which are flooded during the heavy rains.
President Hassan said new houses costing between Sh25 million to Sh30 million each would be constructed for the flood victims who lost their homes.
“They would be resettled in entirely new areas. They would be assisted to have their children back to school. These people lost everything including livestock and food stocks,” she said.
She lauded the Office of Treasury Registrar (OTR) for the donation, urging other public and private institutions to follow suit, noting that the response to the Hanang flood disaster has been good.
The donation by OTR was handed over to the Head of State by Treasury Registrar Nehemiah Mchechu and is the highest so far by a public institution.
“The parastatals did what they were supposed to do. They did not wait for the government to tell them what to do. This is a departure from the past,” she pointed out.
Earlier the Prime minister, Kassim Majaliwa, said a total of 139 were injured in the Hanang tragedy but many of them had been discharged and that only 30 are currently being treated in hospitals.
He added that rescue efforts and rehabilitation of the destroyed infrastructure were underway at both Katesh and Gendabi under the coordination of the National Disaster Management Committee.
