MOSES MADYIRA

CHIKOMBA – Chikomba District has topped Mash East Province veld fire records for the last 16 consecutive years, a spokesperson for Environmental Management Agency (EMA), Astas Mabwe has said.
Mash East has nine districts and last year Chikomba topped again since the province started recording hectarages of land destroyed by fire in 2009.
The veld fire situation for Chikomba is so dire that in 2022 it accounted for 40,1% of all the hectarage of land destroyed by fire in Mash East.
Mabwe said the reason why Chikomba tops is because it is a farming zone where farmers clear their fields by burning them. The district is also a flat land and veld fires spread quicky.
He said in 2022 a total of 112 000 hectares were gutted by fire in the province and of that 45 000 hectares were in Mash East. The destroyed hectarage dropped significantly in 2023 to 79 000 for the whole province and 20 000 hectares for Chikomba.
Most of the veld fires are a result of people clearing land for agricultural purposes and arson. He attributed the drop in the hectarage destroyed in 2023 to reduction in hectares of land destroyed to increased awareness campaigns and stakeholder engagement.
“Chikomba is our hotspot district since 2009 when we started recording the statistics of veld fires, it has been topping the districts most affected by veld fires in the province,” said Mabwe.
There were no fatalities recorded as a result of veld fires in 2023. Mabwe warned people in the province to avoid starting open fires and urged them to construct fire guards.