Well-wishers donate to Zomba fire victims
Zomba District Council has commended parastatals and civil society organisations (CSOs) for donating assorted items worth K2 million to households in Frank Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Nkumbira in the district where fire razed 61 houses a fortnight ago.
Zomba District Council social welfare officer Stephano Joseph said this at the weekend when some government departments and CSOs donated assorted items to the fire victims.
“We appeal to people to come up with different interventions. There is need to empower and sensitise communities here who mostly depend on fishing for survival. Communities here are still building houses using tree poles, bamboos and grass,” he said.
Zomba Chisi member of Parliament Mark Botoman (Democratic Progressive Party-DPP) appealed to CSOs to consider providing soft loans to the community.
“We are in dire straits as you can see. These people also need soft loans to resuscitate their small-scale businesses around the lake. Gift of the Givers Foundation has so far provided people with about K1 million; we need such support because currently these people need 61 tents,” he said.
In his remarks, village head Frank said he has already started sensitising his subjects to the need to start constructing good houses to prevent similar accidents.
“This is the third time to experience fire accident. It is bad seeing people losing their hard earned properties,” he said.
Among the parastatals and CSOs that donated items are Zomba District Health Office, police, Chanco Community Radio, Bwalo Initiative, and many others. n
