Floods will affect 1.5 million Zambians, projects DMMU
Floods will affect 1.5 million Zambians, projects DMMUBy Mwila Chansa
Sunday January 20, 2008 [03:01]
THE Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) has projected that floods will affect an estimated 1.5 million Zambians by the end of the rain season. And Permanent Secretary in the Vice-President’s office, Dr Austin Sichinga said the government had released close to K14 billion to facilitate the procurement, transportation and supply of relief items to affected communities, in addition to rehabilitating damaged infrastructure.
In an interview on Friday shortly after addressing a press briefing at the DMMU conference room, Dr Sichinga said floods had affected about 1.3 million in the last rainy season and that projections were that floods this year would affect 1.5 million people.
“Based on what the Meteorological Department has told us, we are projecting that about 1.5 million people would be affected. This number also includes those who would be indirectly affected,” Dr Sichinga explained.
He said floods in the coming weeks were expected to shift from Southern Province to the traditionally flood-prone areas such as Eastern, Northern, North Western and Western provinces.
Dr Sichinga said in the near future, DMMU would look at possibilities of procuring classrooms and clinics in tent form so that schools were not inconvenienced as was the case in Mazabuka where flood victims had to be accommodated in schools.
Dr Sichinga added that the DMMU was still waiting for cooperating partners and local Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO’s) to make their commitments towards which areas they would assist to ensure smooth planning.
And Sichinga said the government had released close to K14 billion to help DMMU procure requirements and services for those affected by floods.
“Government from its food reserve has also made available 15,000 metric tonnes of white maize to be used in the 2007/2008 relief activities,” Dr Sichinga said.
He explained that the K14 billion would be used to among other things procure tents, mosquito nets, chlorine, blankets, boats, boat engines and rehabilitation of damaged infrastructure. The K14 billion is in addition to the K7 billion released earlier for the rehabilitation of infrastructure that was damaged during the last rain season.
And Dr Sichinga said President Levy Mwanawasa had not declared floods a national disaster as erroneously interpreted by some sections of the media.
He said the law stipulated steps to be taken leading to making such a declaration.
“When he makes that formal declaration, it changes certain operations of government. For example, we can borrow resources from other government departments to help flood victims because the President would be satisfied that it is necessary for us to so,” explained Dr Sichinga.
posted by MrK @ 7:09 PM
6 Comments:
The real secret of course is that there is a need for flood prevention, not simply disaster management.
Zambia cannot suffer from drought one part of the year, and floods the next.
There is a massive opportunity to get farmers off dependence on rainfall, and into using the country's rivers and flood plains to support a massive increase in agriculture.
All the water that is now flooding people's houses and flushing away roads, should be stored onland, in the country's rivers, in dams, in vegetation, and in the soil itself (by raising groundwater levels).
There are well established ways of doing this, but it takes government investment in the creation of irrigation works, small dams, swales, and the rehabilitation of flood plains.
This could be a huge works project, which would alleviate unemployment, increase the availability of well irrigated farm land, and secure the availability of water.
The government should look into the use of aquifers for both agriculture and drinking water. Aquifers can usually have water added to them, through water catchment areas.
In short, there is no excuse for having floods, and preventing them could be a major stimulus for the economy and the country.
For irrigation links, check out:
Yeomans Keyline Designs - Superb Landcare - Sustainable Development
Greening The Desert - a short video on permaculture
I think one of the best contributions coming from Keyline and Permaculture, is the use of water management. Combine that with organic agriculture (no runoff of fertilizer, no lethal chemicals, much better soil texture which will in turn absorb much more water) is the way forward.
However, perhaps rediscovering Africa's traditional irrigation methods will be the ultimate way forward. There is a lot to learn from all over the continent.
The traditional irrigation system of the Chagga of Kilimanjaro - to quote from the article: Indeed, according to Masao, even modern engineers have marvelled at the sophistication of the Chagga's irrigation works, admitting that they themselves would require highly complicated equipment to achieve the results which the Chagga have achieved with the simplest technology.
Just reading the many texts on the internet, it comes back again and again that local people should be involved in managing local resources, and especially water managemenent and the different uses/priorities.
So maybe all these things are symptoms of the same problem. Flooding over here, drought over there, high unemployment nationwide, lack of access to (and therefore control over) land by farmers. Maybe it is all connected.
What I am looking for from the MMD government, is a commitment that they will support works programs, that are transparantly managed, to start utilising water for small/medium sized farmers and local communities.
This would be a highly justifiable use of the taxpayer's money, and would show that even a neoliberal government can develop the country. No 'foreign investor' is going to do it.
Here is an excerpt from a water management program that was implemented in Tanzania. I wonder if the same issue hold true in Zambia too.
Constraints and Potential for Efficient Inter-sectoral Water Allocations in Tanzania
Japhet J. Kashaigili*, Reuben M. J. Kadigi, Charles S. Sokile and Henry F. Mahoo
Table 2: Summary of constraints, potential and devices for efficient water allocation in Tanzania
The current system of water management and allocation in Tanzania is faced by the following major constraints, some of which are having straightforward solutions (e.g., acquisition of funds and facilitation or empowerment of local communities) while others require complex research work and debate:
* Lack of active community involvement in management of water resources. An effective system of water management and allocation requires that all water users and other stakeholders at all levels are actively involved,
* Conflicting institutions and weak institutional capacities both in terms of regulations and protection of interests of the poor. The coordination mechanism between various institutions, which are either directly or indirectly involved in water issues needs to be streamlined and clearly defined so as to avoid duplication of responsibilities and dilution of efforts or wastage of resources, to ensure effective implementation of their mandated functions,
* Lack of data and information to inform policy and strategies for balanced water allocation, and
* Inadequate funding for operation, maintenance and expansion of water supply systems. This has resulted into deterioration of facilities and quality of services, which in turn has adverse impact on the customers’ willingness to pay for the services.
Where is Magande in all this. Didn't the same government entrust magande to introduce taxes on various items including mosquito nets. Now the country is in dire need of mosquito nets, boats etc. Short memory ideed !
slm
SLM,
That is typical for the World Bank/IMF prescriptions of bringing back government expenditures.
Spend less on healthcare. Spend less on education. And apparently, no investment in infrastructure at all.
I wonder if the IMF/World Bank can be sued in court for their advise.
And I hope this becomes the final blow against the philosophy of neoliberalism.
This is part of the price of having low inflation.
I have never believed that low inflation was something to strive for, just for it's own sake.
They can talk about 'putting the right policies in place', but they have to face the consequences of their theories.
From The Post:
http://www.postzambia.com/post-read_article.php?articleId=36828
National disaster
By Malcolm Chiyoba
Monday January 28, 2008 [03:00]
Floods in our nation may need to be declared a national disaster, not because they are, but because the government has no wisdom to offer an appropriate response-based logical preparedness.
Having watched the extent of damage being inflicted by these floods in some houses in Kabwata, it is important for the government to put up good drainage systems. I have also seen floods in our villages, especially in Southern Province.
Last Friday, Magande presented the national budget and said the government allocated K90 billion to the office of the Vice President for managing disasters.
Let me propose that among other things like building houses, erecting tents and sending relief food to the affected places, we must utilise the flood waters by building dams so that the water can be used in the dry season, unless the meteorological department is predicting perenial rains(they often get it wrong maybe due to poor equipment and this is another area the government must improve).
The construction of dams must be accompanied by deliberate efforts to ensure that the facilities for irrigation are available to the affected people.
This flooding in almost every part of the country is surely enough for irrigation and can still be a better source of water for agricultural activities. I believe rains are a blessing.
The worst embarassment this nation will ever go through is a draught, withering crops and thirsty livestock next farming season.
Let the MMD government offer leadership on floods. Abash rhetoric, viva practicality!
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home