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Beaven Dhliwayo Features Writer
President Mnangagwa last week announced that the Government has identified land for the relocation of people affected by Cyclone Idai in addition to those who are still living in areas that are prone to natural disasters.

The announcement by President Mnangagwa is of great importance as land is an important resource used by human beings for several purposes such as building houses and roads, agriculture, forestry, mining and setting up industries. Also, it provides habitation to a variety of flora and fauna. Hence, it is among the most important natural resources.

Land has different meanings for different people. Few people look it as an area of a ground or a structure that is not covered by water, few people look it as the area for producing grains to feed themselves their family and their livestock.

For few people the land they belong to or where they live is like their dignity, that is why most of the people look their country as their land and give it more respect than any other thing. In India people give respect to land as mother and worship it.

The swift response by President Mnangagwa bolsters his message that the new dispensation is a servant leadership which places the wishes and aspirations of the people at the centre of its programmes as it seeks to transform people’s lives by attaining a middle-income economy by 2030.

Decent land where people can build actual houses and not tents is a welcome as it seeks to avoid the human suffering and congestion witnessed at Chingwizi Transit Camp in 2014 following the Tugwi- Mukosi disaster.

People were being treated of diarrhoea at Chingwizi on a daily basis as water hard to get and women had to wait long hours to get the precious commodity.

At the camp, there was prevalence of moral decadence, further exposing the dwellers to sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Speaking in Mutare recently after a briefing with the provincial Department of Civil Protection officials, President Mnangagwa said: “We are not through yet; we still have a lot of work to do.

The task remains to continue to rebuild schools, bridges, hospitals and dams. Our people across the board continue to give moral and material support in an endeavour to restore normalcy, not only to Manicaland, but to Masvingo as well as Mashonaland East.”

The Transitional Stabilisation Programme recognises that functional public infrastructure remains a key enabler to unlocking economic growth potential, increase competitiveness and productivity, whilst equipping public services to meet demand.

Furthermore, infrastructure is considered a key component of the investment climate by reducing the cost of doing business and enabling people to engage in socioeconomic activities.

From an economic point of view land with its resources like oil, minerals, water, vegetation and animals is inequitably shared among nations and societies due to geopolitical constraints.

Land ownership is still much disputed since the historical settlements between the nations has never been fair to all. Colonialism was fuelled by expansionist policies of the kings which was further strengthened by imperialistic policies to assert the right on all resources associated with a particular land including its human resources. This ultimately caused war, deaths and destruction.

Zimbabwe experienced torrential rainfall caused by Cyclone Idai from the March 15, 2019 to March 17, 2019.Tropical Cyclone Idai, which was downgraded to a tropical depression on March 16, 2019, caused high winds and heavy precipitation in Chimanimani, Chipinge, Buhera, Nyanga, Makoni, Mutare Rural, Mutasa and parts of Mutare Urban districts among others, causing riverine and flash flooding and subsequent deaths, destruction of livelihoods and properties.

The Ministry of Health and Child Care is leading the health response to the effects of Cyclone Idai with support from partners with overall guidance by the Civil Protection Unit at all levels. Focus has now shifted to ensuring continuity of health care, restoration of services and the prevention of outbreaks.