According to President Hakainde Hichilema, the government would assess the country’s flood condition and declare some locations disaster zones.
According to President Hichilema, the administration is concerned about the condition of the populace and is making every effort to guarantee that all displaced persons are cared for.
The President claims that he has since ordered the security wings, including the police, Zambia Army, and Zambia National Service, to be accessible around-the-clock in order to meet the requirements of flood victims as soon as possible.
When the President met with traditional leaders and members of parliament today while giving a speech at Bweengwa School, they informed him of the seriousness of the flood situation.
In order to meet the needs of the impacted families in Monze District, he also urged for cooperation between the local government, civic leaders, district, and provincial governments.
The administration would present a strategy to parliament that would alter the design of bridges and roads, according to President Hichilema, in order to ensure that the nation begins to construct road infrastructure moving forward that would withstand the flow of water and endure the test of time.
“This country was poorly managed because the roads and bridges were below par, and this is why most of them have collapsed and severely damaged. I have since tasked my colleagues at Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU), state house and others to ensure that we bring to the table a policy that will change the design of bridges and roads to make them all weather road infrastructure,” said President Hichilema.
The President commended the DMMU for working relentlessly to lessen the suffering of the flood victims in the district after receiving a rousing welcome from the people of Bweengwa.
In order to improve economic activity and facilitate the passage of people and commodities between the two districts, President Hichilema further reaffirmed the government’s commitment to working on and finishing the Monze-Niko Road.
And Chief Hamusonde, speaking on behalf of traditional leaders, commended President Hichilema for quickly responding to the help of the flood victims despite having a full itinerary while traveling the region to understand the flood situation there.
And in his briefing to the head of state, Bweengwa Member of Parliament Michelo Kasauta indicated that because more than 4,000 people lost their homes, crops, and cattle, as well as more than 3,000 hectares of field crops, the locals would require emergency food until April of the following year.
According to Mr. Kasauta, the money have so far been utilized to purchase 1,500 bags of mealie meal, cooking oil, soy chunks, among other products to support the flood victims. He praised the President for increasing the disaster funds under the CDF.
Additionally, Fred Chaatila, a member of parliament for Moomba Area, claimed that 500 households in his region had their maize crops destroyed by flooding, and he urged the head of state to ask the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) to authorize the sale of maize to farmers whose crops had been similarly destroyed.
Gabriel Pollen, the national coordinator of the DMMU, stated that the DMMU has created community-based disaster risk management in conjunction with the traditional leaders in the affected chiefdoms to assist the communities with basic requirements and to aid them in the recovery process.
