HELP US OR JUST BURY US ALIVE

'Help us or just bury us alive'
01/07/2005 15:44 - (SA)

Harare - Porta Farm, a well-known slum west of Zimbabwe's capital Harare,
resembled a village hit by an aerial attack as it was visited on Thursday
by United Nations special envoy Anna Tibaijuka.

At least three people have been killed here, the latest target of a blitz
against crime and squalor by Zimbabwean police, witnesses and Amnesty
International (AI) have said.

Mounds of brick rubble, plastic sheeting, broken asbestos and iron roofing
and smashed furniture were all that remained of the homes of 1 500
families at Porta Farm, whose residents were moved here from various parts
of the capital ahead of Queen Elizabeth II's visit in 1991.

"We are dirt as far as the government is concerned," Samson Banda told
Tibaijuka as she walked around the settlement pervaded by a mixture of
anger, disillusionment and betrayal.

Extreme hardship

One young woman told the UN: "They brought us here saying they would build
us houses. But we have known nothing but torture and harassment for all
the 16 years we have been here," she said.

Another woman asked the UN to "please help us or just bury us alive if
they can't help us."

Women were preparing food on open fires among the debris while some
families were trying to piece together remnants of broken furniture when
the UN envoy visited the shantytown, once home to some 10 000 people.

Witnesses said one woman gave birth in the open after her shack was razed.

A woman identified as Jane Peter showed the UN envoy a two-month-old baby
who was abandoned by her mother in the ensuing melee.

Many complained the police destroyed their furniture and were forcing them
on to trucks heading to a transit camp called Caledonia, set up by the
government for families displaced by the clean-up campaign.

"Please help us because the police are just beating us up and forcing us
to Caledonia," said Wilson Phiri.

Promises to improve the situation

Tibaijuka told the residents: "I am sorry about this situation but we are
going to work together to find a permanent solution."

The Zimbabwean government attempted to clear Porta Farm last September
using tear gas and excessive force during which at least 11 people died,
AI said in a statement reporting three new deaths.

The United Nations estimates 200 000 people have lost their homes since
police started the two-pronged "Operation Restore Order" and "Operation
Murambatsvina" six weeks ago, flattening backyard shops and stalls across
the southern African country.

The opposition says the number of homeless is closer to 1.5 million, while
tens of thousands had been arrested and charged for various offences.