Disaster day event gets cancelled
Government through the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) yesterday cancelled a K100 million commemoration for the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction in Blantyre.
The event was expected to start with a solidarity walk from Kamuzu College of Health Sciences Campus through Masauko Chipembere Highway to Kamuzu Upper Stadium.
The walk was supposed to start at 7.30am but had not started by 9.30am to give way to President Lazarus Chakwera who was using the highway to attend a church service at Redeemed for a Purpose Ministries near Robins Park in the city.
Police officers were deployed along the road to provide security and clear traffic for the presidential convoy.
At around 10am, one of the officials informed journalists covering the event that it had been cancelled but did not give any reasons.
At the Kamuzu Upper Stadium, organisers had set up four tents for guests and participating organisations to demonstrate disaster risk and reduction activities.
As information seeped in that the event had been called off, participants began packing and dismantling the tents.
A source working for one of the organisations said the participants had come from various districts including Phalombe, Nsanje, Lilongwe and Chikwawa.
“It will be hard to reschedule this event because I doubt that Dodma’s partners will accept to inject fresh resources,” said the source.
In an interview, Civil Society Network on Climate Change (Cisonecc) national coordinator Julius Ng’oma described the cancellation as a shock for partners who invested funds into the event.
“About K100 million was pumped into this event but we were just told at the last minute that it has been cancelled without any explanation,” he said.
Ng’oma added that the postponement is a lost opportunity for raising awareness to Blantyre residents on the importance of disaster preparedness and risk management as the rainy season nears.
When contacted, Commissioner for Dodma Charles Kalemba said he was not at the event as he had just returned from a trip while Dodma director of disaster preparedness and response Moses Chimphepo refused to comment.
The commemoration was expected to be presided over by Principal Secretary for Administration in the Ministry of Finance Hetherwick Njati on the theme ‘Empowering the next generation for a resilient future’.