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Rutendo Rori Correspondent
At least $400 000 is needed to repair roads and bridges which were damaged due to Cyclone Idai in Chikomba district, Mashonaland East province, the District Development Fund (DDF) provincial coordinator Mr Mudzingwa Mudzingwa has said.

In an interview with The Herald on Wednesday, Mr Mudzingwa said DDF and the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) engineers were already on the ground repairing some of the roads.

“There were no major damages due to Cyclone Idai in the province, but there are isolated cases of damage to infrastructure in Chikomba which will cost about RTGS $400 000,” he said.

“After having assessed the damage we deployed our team which is already on the ground working to restore accessibility to the affected area.”

He said there was, however, need for further funding to repair the damaged infrastructure since DDF had used funds for other projects to attend to the situation.

“However, funding is needed because we had to shift resources from existing projects to attend to the situation in Chikomba,” he said.

Mr Mudzingwa also said DDF was assessing damaged toilets to prevent the contamination of water sources.

“We are also assessing toilets that collapsed or were flooded, raising the risk of contamination to water sources. We are taking stock of the damage and we will act swiftly to avoid the risk of diarrhoeal diseases,” he said.

Meanwhile, more donations are pouring in for the Chikomba victims. A DDF truck yesterday delivered clothes, blankets and maize to the affected people.

“On our part as DDF, we have offered a truck to transport the relief materials that are being collected from well-wishers by the provincial Civil Protection Unit,” he said.

Chikomba district is among areas of the country which were heavily damaged as a result of Cyclone Idai.

The district recorded five injuries, while about 200 families were left homeless as a result of the cyclone.