Zimbabwe to form disaster management center

By John Cassim

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AA) - A fortnight after the deadly tropical Cyclone Idai ravaged parts of eastern Zimbabwe, the government said Wednesday it will build a state-of-the-art disaster management center.

Speaking at a meeting in capital Harare, Local Government Minister July Moyo hinted at the latest development.

“We want to set a permanent disaster management center so that we have all the information systems including the technology that other countries are now using, to predict or retrieve information when a disaster occurs,” Moyo said.

The center, the first of its kind in Zimbabwe, would be financed by a foundation led by a U.K.-based businessman, Strive Masiyiwa.

Following the cyclone, the government was accused of its failure to adequately act or issue strong warnings when a catastrophe was imminent, leading to the death of nearly 200 people, 329 missing and 259,000 affected.

"All of us are wiser now after the disaster, let us share lessons learnt; we need to know from you, lessons you learnt as well, so that we are better organized next time,” Moyo said.

Meanwhile, the search for bodies are still underway. On Tuesday, South Africa dispatched two teams of sniffer dog handlers to expedite the process.