Government has secured $2 million dollars to compensate the flood victims in Masvingo who have been living under inhuman conditions since February this year.
Some of the villagers started getting their compensation funds last week amid reports that the government was still pumping out a reported $300,000 every month to feed the 12,000 flood victims now living on Nuanetsi Ranch.
Masvingo provincial administrator Felix Chikovo said they had started compensating the flood victims as the government had made available $2 million - part of the $8 million needed to compensate all the victims.
“We are going to compensate all the flood victims once funds have been secured and we hope the remaining funds would be made available soon,” said Chikovo.
Some of the villagers could not believe their eyes as they got various amounts of money ranging from $5,000 per family to as much as $25,000. Chikovo handed over the money to displaced victims whose hopes of getting compensation from the cash-strapped government were fading by the day.
Naison Munyaro said he was happy to get his cash but said delays in funds disbursement had caused a lot of suffering to the villagers especially young children. “The road to this moment has been tough and we are calling on the state to speedily disburse the funds so that all the villagers are compensated,” he said. “Our young children who were made to live under these inhuman conditions at this tender age and for several months.”
Most of the victims said they would use the money to erect permanent homes at the ranch.