Chilima visits Phalombe flood victims
Vice-President Saulos Chilima says Malawi needs to come up with viable disaster management programmes to permanently deal with the challenge.
He was speaking yesterday in Traditional Authority (T/A) Kaduya in Phalombe District where he visited about 329 households affected by floods that occurred last Friday, affecting six villages of Likatchale, Mwanyewe, Hamela, Nampinga, Tibu and Harapera.
He said: “We need to look at how we can deal with this challenge once and for all. Environmental degradation is one big challenge that we need to deal with. We also need to ensure that houses that are being constructed are strong enough to survive various forms of disasters.”
The Vice-President distributed relief items such as maize, plastic cups and plates, plastic sheets and blankets.
District Commissioner for Phalombe, Gossam Mafuta said aside from floods, the district experienced drought in the early months of the rainy season as well as fall army worms.
In her remarks, T/A Kaduya called on government to hasten its efforts in strengthening river banks by constructing more cross-overs and dykes to reduce over flooding in rivers. n
