APM speaks on disaster response
President Peter Mutharika has appealed to Malawians to join hands and embrace disaster preparedness and resilience building to minimise the impact of natural disasters.
Mutharika, in his address to the nation broadcast on taxpayer-funded Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) television and radio Tuesday evening, also highlighted precautionary measures for El-Nino which is likely during the 2015/16 rainy season, water borne diseases, maize importation and climate change mitigation.
In the statement themed A Nation Resilient To Disasters made available to The Nation by the State House Press Office, the President said climate change is real and that it is here to stay, at least in the foreseeable future.
He observed that climate change threatens the people’s ability to feed themselves, to remain healthy and safe from extreme weather and to manage the natural resources that support their economies.
Mutharika said disaster risk management is not a choice, but a must and as such it is an imperative which should be driven by lessons learnt from the country’s tragic experiences of disasters.
“As a long-term strategy, I would like to assure you that the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development, and, indeed, all other ministries and departments will ensure that disaster risk management is integrated in development planning and programming. Similarly, I would like to appeal to all organisations to follow suit,” he said.
On the expected El-Nino which according to the seasonal forecast by the Department of Climate Change Management and Meteorological Services may cause heavy rains in some parts of the country and may cause drought in other parts of the country, the President has asked people and all stakeholders to play their rightful roles to complement activities under a contingency plan which government has developed for El-Nino.
Said Mutharika: “In this respect, I would first of all, like to strongly appeal to people living in flood-prone areas to urgently re-locate upland with the encouragement and support of local leaders —chiefs, politicians and religious leaders—as well as non-governmental organisations operating in the areas concerned.”
The President also said that in order to ensure the safety of people who are frequently affected by flood disasters, government will, from next year, start the process of permanently resettling the people in safe areas.
He said government will also address the problem of heavy siltation that renders rivers vulnerable to easy flooding by working on certain rivers to control them from flooding.
Malawi experienced the worst floods in recent years in January this year when 15 of the country’s 28 districts were affected. In general, the floods affected 1.1 million people with 106 killed and 172 people reported missing while 230 000 were displaced.
The combined effects of the floods and erratic rains caused the current food shortage which has seriously affected as many as 2.8 million Malawians.
In September this year, the President sent a save our souls (SOS) call to development partners, local and international well-wishers to assist government in mobilising resources to feed the 2.8 million Malawians.
He said the 2015/16 Food Insecurity Response Plan developed by government based on results of the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (Mvac) Food Insecurity Assessment Exercise carried out between June 8 and July 2 this year requires $146.378 million (about K83.4 billion).
In October the World Food Programme (WFP) announced that it would provide food aid to 2.4 million people nationwide, representing around 85 percent of the 2.8 million starving Malawians, a development which meant government was just required to raise 30 percent of the needed K83.4 billion. Apart from WFP, Brazil, Britain, the United Kingdom (UK), Italy and the European Union (EU) have also assisted.
Before WFP’s announcement, Vice-President Saulos Chilima is on record as having said Mutharika’s appeal for assistance donor pledges stood at $45 million (about K25 billion). n
