Kwekwe CPU forms disaster sub-committees

KweKwe (The Times-New Ziana) – The Kwekwe District Civil Protection Unit has come up with four disaster sub-committees for a rapid response in case of an emergency in the district.

The sub-committees come in the wake of a fatal road accident which claimed 12 lives last Sunday morning. The accident involved a Gokwe-bound cross-border bus, Mandeep, which collided head-on with a Mutare-bound Govasberg bus near Kwekwe river.

Kwekwe District Administrator, Fortune Mupungu, who is also the Kwekwe CPU chairperson, said the emergency sub-committee will be chaired by the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP), Food and water crisis (Agritex), Epidemics and Zoonotics (Health department), and Manpower and training (Kwekwe City Council and Redcliff Municipality).

The sub-committees were tasked to be proactive in case of a disaster and quickly relay the information to the District Administrator’s Office.

Speaking at an emergency CPU meeting, Mupungu paid tribute to funeral service providers, Doves and Nyaradzo for assisting with the burials of the victims of last week’s accident.

“I would like also to thank the services we got from Doves as well as Nyaradzo, in terms of the burials of the deceased.”

Speaking at the same meeting, Doves Kwekwe branch manager, Vongai Mudumbu encouraged other stakeholders to contact their office whenever there is a disaster as they are able to assist even if they are not the ones who will end up serving them.

“We do have a disaster ambulance and we can come to assist whenever there is an accident, so you should not hesitate to get in touch with us as we can extend our help regardless of the fact that we are not the ones who will end up serving them.”

The Mandeep and Govasberg bus accident claimed 12 people of which 10 died on the spot and the other two died upon admission in hospital. So far seven bodies were collected for burial.

As of Wednesday, 35 injured people were treated and discharged while eight were still in hospital.

The Kwekwe CPU will give the deceased family members ZWL $1000 each.

“We can safely say that we have managed to get ZWL $12 000, from our reserve of the civil protection fund and we will soon distribute the money to the 12 deceased family members,” said Mupungu.

During the emergence meeting, the District CPU chairperson emphasised the importance of communication in case of such emergencies, highlighting that there was an error in communication when the bus accident occurred.
The Times-New Ziana