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Sydney Kawadza: Senior Features Writer

A section of Harare’s central business district was, some months ago, cordoned off on suspicions of petrol leaking from an underground fuel tank at a service station along Nelson Mandela Avenue.

Blocked were 3rd Street, Kwame Nkrumah Avenue, Simon Muzenda (formerly 4th Street) and Jason Moyo Avenue to avert disaster. Buildings in the area were evacuated as authorities checked on the suspected leak. The area was only opened to the public two weeks later.

Workers returned to their offices with questions lingering over the potential dangers they faced. Under review were Harare City Council’s disaster preparedness mechanisms.

“The danger could have been dismissed but what would have happened if the leaking petrol led to an uncontrollable fire?

“These are some of the situations that should be on people’s minds when raising our city’s disaster preparedness,” Arnold Chitakatira queried.

Chitakatira is an urban development student based in South Africa. He also observed that the Harare City fire department usually fails to douse fires due to inadequate water supplies, broken down fire hydrants, obsolete emergency equipment and outdated technology.

“Besides that, does council have enough personnel and the required implements in averting such dangers?” He asked.

Fires are not the only phenomena associated with potential disasters in Harare. Urban planners, in separate interviews, noted the incidence of flush floods and disease outbreaks during the rainy season.

Disaster management systems, according to Zimbabwe Institute of Regional and Urban Planners president Mr Percy Toriro, are “shock absorbers” built in a settlement plan to mitigate the effects of mishaps, natural or human-induced.

“Examples of these include floods, droughts, cyclones, traffic accidents, fires, earthquakes and others,” he said. “While in the past natural disasters were few, their frequency and severity has increased in this era of climate change,” Toriro said.

It was critical, he pointed out, for a city to have a functional and vibrant disaster management and recovery plan.

“Questions to ask are; how prepared is our city for a fire outbreak? Could Harare cope with an accident where 200 people are injured and we need ambulances, hospitals and the relevant personnel to deal with that?

“Our answers should address both material and human resources. They should also refer to plans that are known by the public.”

Investment in disaster planning and management was critical, he said. Harare Residents Trust executive director Mr Precious Shumba echoed Mr Toriro’s sentiments. He expressed doubts over the city’s responsiveness to potential disasters. Mr Shumba identified poorly planned residential areas as potential disaster areas.

“There are several residential areas that are sprouting across the city and those are actually ticking time bombs,” he said.

Mr Shumba said property worth millions has already been lost in fires.

“There are non-functional fire hydrants in the CBD, let alone residential areas,” he said.

Flooding is also of major concern to residents.

“The drainage system in Harare has collapsed all over, along major roads, in the Central Business District, in the suburbs,” he said.

Mr Shumba identified areas such Mbare National’s 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Streets up to Mhlanga Road and Mbirimi Drive as potential flood areas. The same problem is experienced along Mwamuka and Samuriwo Streets.

“Despite repeated flooding in these areas, no corrective measures have been taken. The same situation is experienced in Kuwadzana Extension where the drainage system has totally collapsed,” Shumba said.

He added that the blockages are due to non-existent monitoring system in Harare. Mr Shumba urged council to engage residents to clear the drainage systems in the residential areas.

“The priority would be bringing the residents owing council, say above $500, and engaging them on the same scale as their employees whose responsibility it is to clear drainages,” he said.

Another Harare-based urban planning expert said council should update its systems and equipment.

“First, there is need for a disaster risk management policy or master plan as is the case with other developed cities.

“Secondly, the city fathers need to invest in upgrading equipment while introducing modern technology such as the geographic information systems,” he said.

The geographic information system is a computer-based system for capturing, storing, checking and displaying data related to positions on Earth’s surface. The GIS shows different kinds of data on one map enabling users to easily see, analyse and understand patterns and relationships of potential disasters. The expert said such technology could assist fire fighters locate the nearest fire hydrants when attending to a fire.

“It can also help in monitoring epidemic trends and development but we lack such necessary technology,” he said.

He emphasised the need to educate residents on how to react when disaster strikes.

“Council could use the Environment Management Authority model when educating farmers on how to prevent and control veld fires,” he said.

“The public should also be taught how to react when a certain disaster happens,” he said. “Sound town planning can mitigate the impact of such disasters, for example, a well-drained city can allay flush floods that occur after a heavy downpour.”

However, Harare City acting corporate communication manager Mr Michael Chideme dismissed concerns that their systems could not handle emergencies.

“We have a disaster management team in place that is ready to react to any situation should the need arise,” he said. “The city has functional disaster response equipment such as fire tenders which can be deployed at an instant’s notice.”

Council, Mr Chideme said, has a well-trained and skilled manpower in all areas of emergency response.

“We will however continue to offer refresher courses to our manpower and where possible recruit new staff,” he said.

The city currently employs 130 fire officers and 67 ambulance attendants. According to Mr Chideme, the city operates a fleet of 15 fire tenders. The city has since received two fire tenders from the UK-based Fire Service and Humanitarian Charity under the auspices of Operation Florian. Three more are expected at the municipality.

“These are not adequate but we are managing to attend to all cases reported in the city,” he said.

He scoffed at reports the fire brigade attends fire incidents outbreaks without water.

“These are all falsehoods. The unit always responds with enough water,” Mr Chideme said. “In an emergency response the logic is to pump out as much water as possible to extinguish the fire within the shortest period of time to save human life and property.”

He said there were, however, various other ways to fight blazes.

“For fuel fires we use chemical foam while carbon dioxide and dry powder (fire extinguisher cylinders) are ideal for small fires. In computer rooms we use carbon dioxide also,” he said.

Mr Chideme said council had installed fire hydrants facilities in most residential areas.

“However, these have been vandalised hence our fire tenders fail to get refuelling close to the scene of the fire. So when they drive around looking for water – blame is placed on the unit and the city,” he said, urging residents preserve fire hydrants for their own safety,” he said.

Mr Chideme said residents should avoid starting fires as they are liable for the costs associated with dousing the blaze.

“The person receiving service pays $150 per hour to council for the service but we believe the amount is by far below the cost of the service.”

He also said council had community awareness programmes on the dangers of water borne diseases.

“Residents are also being taught the first line of defence while at home before they go to a health centre,” he said.

Municipal health centres, he said, had enough medical kits to attend to the first 20 patients of any epidemic before an outbreak is declared.

“During this time of the year, all diarrhoeal cases are treated for free and with specimens for each third case being taken to the laboratory for tests to establish the type of diarrhoea,” he said.

Mr Chideme said the drainage clearance system was continuing smoothly.

“We are clearing in all wards but we still face challenges of littering. The litter is finding its way into the drainage system again,” he said.

Disasters are classified as both man-made and natural, with the former including epidemics such as cholera or typhoid while the latter are as rare including earthquakes.

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