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Minister Mombeshora

George Maponga in MASVINGO
LANDS and Rural Resettlement Minister Dr Douglas Mombeshora says 3 000 Tokwe-Mukosi flood victims resettled on the Nuanetsi Ranch in Mwenezi will only be relocated again if President Mugabe agrees to the move.

The families were allocated one-hectare permanent plots at Nuanetsi after spending over six months at Chingwizi holding camp.

The Masvingo provincial leadership has identified seven farms in Chiredzi and Mwenezi where Tokwe-Mukosi flood victims will be resettled saying their current location was unfit for human habitation.

The flood victims will also be moved to pave way for a $400 million ethanol plant that the Zimbabwe Bio Energy intends to build on the land currently occupied by the families.

Zimbabwe Bio Energy is a joint venture between the Development Trust of Zimbabwe and a group of private investors fronted by businessman Mr Billy Rautenbach.

In an interview when he visited Masvingo province last week, Dr Mombeshora said he would seek guidance from President Mugabe on the matter.

Dr Mombeshora said a second relocation of Tokwe-Mukosi flood victims needed careful planning.

“There are many issues that will come to the fore once we start talking about relocating families at Nuanetsi to another place again. There are issues to do with compensation, infrastructure at the new areas where they will be moved and this requires careful planning and I think we will have to seek the authority of President Mugabe himself before going ahead to move them again,’’ he said.

“The other problem is that some of these families had already built permanent homes using the little resources they had. Moving them again will require compensating them so that they can start again.

“There are also other facilities like clinics, schools and other infrastructure that were already in the process of being developed and the question is how do we deal with that?’’ he added.

Resettled families at Nuanetsi were using a temporary clinic built by an Italian non-government organisation, Cesvi, but the National Aids Council is financing the construction of a state-of-the- art clinic with help of artisans from the Zimbabwe National Army.

The clinic is on the verge of completion while several blocks of classrooms have been built at Nyuni Primary and Secondary schools.

Government has also drilled over 30 boreholes to ease water shortages.