Livingstone houses submerged in floodwater

ANDREW MUKOMA writes @SunZambian OVER 30 houses in Ngwenya Township in Livingstone have been flooded due to the heavy downpour experienced in the last couple of days. The affected families whose properties such as mattresses, chairs including mealie meal are soaked, have appealed for help from the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU). A check by the Daily Nation yesterday found some families struggling to remove the flood water from their homes. Some houses looked deserted as families have sought refuge elsewhere. A check showed that affected residents have built their houses on the land whose terrain is not suitable for any structure. Those talked to put the blame of the local authority for giving out plots on the land which is not suitable for building houses. Idah Mubanga, one of the affected residents, told the Daily Nation that the area where people have built their houses is a wetland. She said, as if that was not enough, the local authority has failed to create roads and drainages. Ms Mubanga said that there has been a number of promises from the ward Councillor, Kelvin Maambo, of the UPND to create drainages but that has not been fulfilled. “Every time we have heavy rains, these houses are usually flooded with water. The biggest problem that we have is that we have no drainages and roads where the water can be passing. “We have been promised many times by the Council that they were going to sort out this problem but nothing…so, we are asking for help from DMMU,” she said.