Senior Chief Kalonga of Salima has accused senior officials in government and the private sector, of double standards on charcoal use as a source of energy.
The chief was speaking at Salima Community Centre ground during the Climate Change Information Centre Open Day organised by the Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services (DCCMS) to assess the impact of climate information centres.
“We deserve the climate change impacts we are facing because we are not learning from our mistakes that have depleted the environment. Those in offices are busy preaching that we should stop using charcoal, but go to their homes, they use the same charcoal every day,” said the chief.
He also hit at the police and Forest Department officers, saying since the campaign to stop people from using charcoal started, he has never seen the two offices demonstrating burning of charcoal confiscated from sellers and users.
“Where does the charcoal you confiscate go? If you confiscate and use it, you are promoting the practice,” he charged.
Chairperson of Salima District Council, Peter Kadam’manja, concurred with Kalonga, saying there are loopholes in the efforts to fight climate change.
He asked all players to work hard in stopping behaviours that derails the fight.
Head of public weather at DCCMS, Elina Kululanga, lamented people’s reluctance to pay attention to weather and climate change information.
She said planning to reach other players with weather and climate change information and also influence everyone’s behaviour to prioritise knowledge and behaviour change.
