By Chrispin Inambao KATIMA MULILO A double-edged humanitarian crisis in the form of massive floods engulfing settlements in Kabbe Constituency – swamping crop fields while marooning cattle – coupled with the flooded crops at Sangwali threatens Caprivi’s food security. The bulk of the maize harvest is normally from the hundreds of communal fields located on higher, drier land but the floods, described by Regional Governor Bernard Sibalatani as “abnormal” because of their magnitude, would wreak havoc on the region’s food security as crop fields in the affected areas are already submerged and would not be harvested. Maize, sorghum, pumpkins, watermelon, sugar cane and other crops are ruined. Flooding at villages dotting the floodplain at Musanga, Lisikili, Kalimbeza, Sifuha, Malindi, Schuckmannsburg, Ikaba, Nantungu, Impalila, Kasika, Iivilivinzi and Itomba normally starts from the period March/April, but this year the huge amount of water has already breached the Zambezi and Chobe rivers and their tributaries much earlier. By Wednesday, water technicians from the Directorate of Water Affairs at Katima told the regional government that the water level – a benchmark for gauging floods – stood at 6.78 metres and by Thursday this had risen to 6.80 metres. Readings from the preceding years have been lower this time of the year and one senior bureaucrat echoed the sentiment that this year’s floods could equal the record floods of 1978. It is feared the situation could worsen in a few days especially at settlements scattered in Kabbe where experts expect a colossal flood wave – that has already swept over western Zambia – to engulf the tiny islands barely jutting above the water line. Already the gravel roads to the affected settlements in Kabbe are completely covered with water. A flyover visit on Wednesday involving the Namibia Red Cross Society (NRCS), UN humanitarian agencies, Mbeuta Ua-Ndjarakana the Permanent Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat and Gabriel Kangowa, the Acting Director: Disaster Management Unit, and Bernard Sibalatani revealed the extent and severity of the flooding that has isolated hundreds of settlements in Kabbe while hundreds of cattle appear to be stranded on tiny islands. On Wednesday, Sibalatani as head of the Regional Emergency Management Unit (REMU) convened a meeting at Katima Mulilo where Ua-Ndjarakana, his team and a handful of humanitarian agents were briefed on the magnitude of the unravelling crisis. At the multi-sectoral meeting, Kangowa said the Councillor for Kabbe, Peter Mwala, gave copies of two pages containing the names of villagers who are temporarily being sheltered at Schuckmannsburg from nearby flooded settlements. For the past three years, Schuckmannsburg has occasionally been chosen as a centre for sheltering flood victims from nearby villages that are flood-prone because apart from being on higher, drier ground it boasts a health centre, a clinic, police station and a school. Those presently sheltering at Schuckmannsburg could also not reach Lusese. “They need to be provided with shelter. Shelter is our principal objective for those people,” said Kangowa. He added at Wednesday’s gathering that the Kabbe councillor had availed the list of the people currently at Schuckmannsburg after he was asked about their whereabouts. The Namibia Red Cross Society (NRCS) was by yesterday expected to have started with providing water purification tablets and few other non-food items to those camping under trees and using other forms of rudimentary, makeshift shelter at Schuckmannsburg. Though food is in the action plan drafted to reverse the losses being incurred, shelter in the form of tents “is the principal focus” though there are contingency plans to buy food. Next week Monday, the Directorate of Emergency Management, and Ua-Ndjarakana and officials from the World Food Programme would compile a report with a raft of proposals that should be submitted before the next Cabinet sitting for approval. “Food is one of the basic needs, there is a need for the provision of food,” he said. Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry would be expected to assist the Directorate of Emergency Management to assess the level of crop damage. Two sites at Lusese have already been identified for the resettlement of those displaced. – In a related development the team accompanied by indunas on Thursday flew over Linyanti constituency where many crop fields are also inundated at settlements such as Mashi, Sangwali and Malengalenga along the Chobe River in Linyanti. In these areas only the crop fields are under water unlike in Kabbe along the Zambezi where both crop fields and huts are under floodwater. And ironically, Caprivi’s maize belt at Muyako, a fertile area that was until recently a scene of tribal clashes involving the Mafwe and Masubia before government recently said the area falls under the Masubia, appears dry even from the air including Lake Lyambezi. After the visit Ua-Ndjarakana said crop fields east of Sangwali “are submerged” and that it appears the area had received less rain. And communal farmers who had some hopes of harvesting from the poor cropping would have their efforts “thwarted” by the floods. Even after this week’s visit Ua-Ndjarakana feels the situation at settlements east of Sangwali would need “constant monitoring and surveillance” as the worst is not yet over. He says since these villages are not submerged, villagers would need mosquito nets. And in a development linked to certain officials trying to turn recurring humanitarian crises in Caprivi into a cash cow and to enrich themselves, the top official had this to say: “In an emergency like this, citizens should not ask how much they are going to benefit, but how much they can do to prevent suffering and to save the lives of those affected. “It should not be treated as a cash cow,” he cautioned. Previously, some officials mandated with disaster management submitted highly suspect overtime claims, in certain instances claiming they worked 24 hours a day for seven days a week, but nevertheless the emergency food supplies ended up rotting in a case that saw many being suspended.