De
El Nino threat; authorities to face disaster empty handed

By Sunday Citizen Team
As countries in the region brace for floods that could displace thousands of people and devastated infrastructure, the country has virtually no budget set aside to specifically deal with the potential El Nino threat.
The weatherman has warned that the floods could fall any time now while the United Nation has listed Tanzania among counties in the East and Central Africa that will be badly affected by the phenomenon whose destruction in 1998 is unparalleled. El Nino is a weather phenomenon associated with abnormally heavy rains. According to experts, it is triggered by the warming of water over the Pacific Ocean.
Should the floods occur, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says the food supply situation that is already critical in some countries will worsen while the humanitarian crisis may require that governments spend more funds to mitigate some of the negative consequences.
Ms. Elizabeth Byrs of the UN office says in a posting on the organisation?s website that Tanzania was among countries that assured a meeting of ten countries in the region in Nairobi, last October, that early measures have been taken in preparation as the country awaits the inevitable. She said an estimate of 50,000 people would require immediate aid when the floods hit in the country.
But away from the planning meetings, the reality on the ground is that little effort was being done by authorities to reflect high levels of awareness of the magnitude that the flooding could cause. A survey and inquiries by Sunday Citizen in some areas prone to flooding and that were badly affected in 1998 show that the flood may actually catch us napping.
There is no national allocation made by the Government to mitigate the effects of El Nino while regional governments and local councils were also grappling with funds shortage to think of setting aside enough resources for emergencies like El Nino. Even though the Tanzania Meteorological Agency has predicted that Lake Zone areas would be worst affected, other cities, like Dar es Salaam and Tanga, with low sea levels, are easily overwhelmed by torrential rains, let alone El Nino. The Minister of State in the Prime Minister?s office responsible for disaster management, Mr Philip Marmo, confirmed the disaster management coordination department under his watch did not have funds set aside for El Nino. ?We do not have funds at the department. What they do is prepare guidelines and sensisitise the public and the local authorities what to do in case of such emergencies,? said Marmo last week in Dodoma.
The Minister however said should need for emergency arises, the ministry would rely on the ministry of finance to provide contingency funding under emergency certification. The acting director for disaster management coordination Mr Joseph Shiyo reinforced the minister?s statement and said his office has no specific budget for El Ni񯮍? I am saying this clearly so that everybody could understand, our department has no money, we depend on requesting fund from the Treasury when such incidents occur,? said Mr Shiyo.
He said while they sometimes received funds for disaster, there was no allocation at the moment. The officer however said the department has already taken some measures and that it was in good position to face any challenges. He said a meeting with all stakeholders to discuss and set strategies had been held with bodies such as the Tanzania Red Cross Association, Fire brigade, Police and health officers. ?We have written to all councils and regions requiring them to adjust their budgets to tackle the matter because there could be no addition money from our office,? said Mr Shiyo.
He added that public awareness education was another important measure that have been taken by his office on which television, radio programmes and newspapers were used t spread the knowledge on the matter. ?We are preparing people to face the problem, every person must understand what is likely to happen and what he/ she should do after seeing that situation,? he said. But some interviewees and several individuals who called Sunday Citizen have expressed concern that there was nothing visible that local councils were doing to safeguard their infrastructures from total destruction by the floods. ?We know the Dar es Salaam situation when it rains and expected that the El Nino warning would trigger activity to open alleyways, dig trenches and fix broken sewers. But I am worried the city will stand stills because I have not seen anything happening,? a resident of Ubungo said. But the Ilala, Kinondoni and Temeke Executive Directors appeared resigned to fate and said they would only do the bits they could with little resources at their disposal.
The three councils that are responsible for an estimated 4 million city dwellers have a combined budget of not more than Sh50 million set aside for disaster preparedness. The Ilala Municipal Director Gabriel Fuime said the council has set aside Sh25 million from its own income to address any emergencies while the Kinondoni Municipality Engineer Faustin Mosha revealed just Sh13 million was available for their use in preparedness. Temeke Municipal Director Stephen Kongwa only said they would rely on the regional director?s office for such funding. ?What we have set aside is not enough as we cannot tell the kind of destruction that is coming, the available cash will be used in some notorious areas in our municipality. We have issued a warning to the residents on eruption of diseases like cholera should the floods come,? he said adding that there were enough medical supplies to prevent the outbreaks.
Engineer Mosha said hi priority has been to open drainage systems in a continued programme while warning that residents who have inhabited areas prone to flooding should move out or secure their own properties as the government could not carter for everyone. A survey in the regions showed that local authorities are either too broke to afford raising needed money or are withholding negligible funds from their small budgets in case they were hit.
In Arusha, Regional officials who spoke to Sunday Citizen said although they have been notified, so far they have not received funds for any emergency. Henry Shekiffu, the Manyara regional commissioner said from Babati that residents of the region, now reeling from severe drought, were aware of the anticipated excessive rains but were yet to feel endangered. "El Nino rains must not necessarily be destructive so it is wrong to conclude that they will cause major disaster once it started falling" he said. The RC added that in case of any emergency during the rains, the region would communicate with the PMOs on what should be done. "At the moment, we have not embarked on anything because the rains are yet to fall," he said. Officials of the neighbouring Arusha region also said they were not aware of new budget directives . "When will these rains start falling?" asked one senior official at the regional block, admitting that the region was still pre-occupied with the raging drought which has killed hundreds of livestock and left many families without food.
Karatu district commissioner Mathew Sedoyeka said besides grappling with drought and distribution of relief food to the severely affected families, the district was busy establishing disaster management teams at district, ward, and village levels to mitigate against any possible calamity. "We have told wananchi to get prepared and volunteer in case of destruction of structures such as bridges and public buildings" he explained.
He further hinted that not all residents of the district have negative perceptions of El Nino. "Many of them have been waiting for rains for a long time. To make it worse, the district did not get even the short rains" he said. Reported by Zephania Ubwani, Arusha, Florence Mugalura Da es salaam