Chilima accuses council of sleeping on duty

Malawi Vice President Dr Saulos Chilima has faulted the Mzuzu City Council of failing to take measures to prevent some of the disasters that have occurred in the city.

He was speaking on Thursday in Mzuzu when he visited people and houses affected by heavy rain in the city from last month of December to this week.

During his visit, he was told that one house was damaged after a tree fell on it and on a main electricity line.

Chilima who is also minister responsible for disaster and management affairs said some things needs to be monitored as there is no need for him to call the Mzuzu City Council from the capital Lilongwe to tell them what to do.

“Some of these accidents are preventable ones as we saw at Kaning’ina there is some tree planted long time ago and the authorities are responsible to do some survey and cut all trees that we feel can cause such accidents.

“These accidents happen because some authorities are sleeping on duty, and that’s completely unacceptable you are putting other people’s life at risk, let’s work hard at least to prevent these things,” said Chilima.

He added that some disasters cannot be prevented but it is important to avoid what can be avoided.

“What is true is that climate change is a reality and it is here to stay, we pray for rain so that we can plant and harvest, we thank God for answering our prayers but some times there is too much rain do we go back and blame God? No. let’s avoid what we can manage to avoid,” he said.

More than 152 households have been affected in the city of Mzuzu alone from November last year to early January 2018.

In the country, 6000 households have been affected and 9 deaths have been reported with 6 in Lilongwe, 2 in Nkhotakota and 1 in Mchinji. More than 29,000 people are currently homeless countrywide due to rainstorms.

During Chilima’s visit, each of the affected families in Mzuzu received  50kg bag of maize, 2 blankets, plastic pail, plates and black plastic paper sheet.

Areas affected include Chiwanja, Zolozolo, Chiputula, Masasa, Chibavi, Msongwe and Mzilawaingwe.