Paul Fauvet
7 February 2008
Dombe — Mozambican President Armando Guebuza on Thursday visited four resettlement areas for victims of flooding in the Save and Búzi valleys, in the centre of the country, to see for himself how they are rebuilding their lives.
The centres at Jenga in Nova Mambone, and at Beiapeia in Machanga district, in the Save Valley, were set up in the wake of a flood surge down the river on1 January. At Guara-Guara, overlooking the Búzi river, new accommodation for this year's flood victims is being added onto an existing village.
Easily the most difficult conditions that Guebuza witnessed are at Medenginhane in Dombe in Manica province. This resettlement centre has only existed for the past three weeks, and people are still living under sheets of tarpaulin. Tents have not yet arrived.
Flooding was not expected in Dombe.
But a mid-January flood surge down the Búzi river was so great that the water backed up and flowed in the opposite direction, massively swelling the Buzi's main tributary, the Lucite.
This flood drove hundreds of people to seek safety in the higher areas of Dombe. The rivers have subsided, but it will clearly take a considerable time for the water to drain away from the inundated areas. Vast pools of water on what was once cultivated land can be seen from the air.
In all four centres, Guebuza told the flood victims that he had come to bring them the solidarity of the government and of the whole Mozambican people. "It is the tradition of this government to be close to the people and to serve the people", he declared in Jenga
"We are to say we're with you", he added. "We know it's not easy to abandon your home particularly in a hurry", added Guebuza.
The government would provide the flood victims with whatever was in its power - but he stressed that the affected households would have to build their own homes.
At all the centres, he urged them not simply to build mud huts, but to build larger houses of the clay bricks which could easily be made locally. Building a decent house "is a contribution to the fight against poverty", he said.
The lesson of the floods was that, while farmers should certainly cultivate the rich soils near the river banks, they should not run the risk of living in flood-prone areas.
"For some of you, this is the second or third time this has happened", he told the crowd at Guara-Guara. "We must produce food, but without endangering the lives of our children, without being overwhelmed by the waters", he said.
Guebuza also stressed the need to avoid the spread of disease in the crowded resettlement areas. That means observe basic rules of hygiene, and building latrines.
By taking such precautions, "you will prolong your lives", he told his audience in Dombe, "and for us your lives are very important. All that we do is for the lives of Mozambicans. So you must obey the norms transmitted by the health authorities'.
On Friday Guebuza will visit resettlement areas in the Zambezi valley, in two of the district worst hit by floods - Mutarara, at the confluence of the Zambezi and Shire rivers, and Chinde, near the mouth of the Zambezi
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