Maravi

Mulafulafu bemoans poor state of roads in compounds

Mulafulafu bemoans poor state of roads in compounds
By Mutuna Chanda and Masuzyo Chakwe
Saturday January 05, 2008 [03:00]

THE poor should not only be looked at when politicians want their votes, Caritas Zambia executive director Sam Mulafulafu has said. And Islamic Council of Zambia (ISZ) president Rashid Phiri has called on the government to urgently address the poor state of roads in most townships in the country.

Commenting on the state of the roads in compounds, Mulafulafu said it was unfortunate that there were two classes of citizens, the rich and the poor who were being treated differently.

"If you look at the state of roads in areas like Kabulonga and if at all they were not attended to, you would see the residents in these areas making all the noise and they would receive the attention that they need," Mulafulafu said.

"But when you look at the state of the roads in compounds, they are in such terrible state that all you find are pools of water and they are not being attended to. People in compounds also need good roads."

Mulafulafu said the poor state of roads in compounds has been an issue for a number of years without anything being done. He said the roads in compounds which harboured pools of water in the rainy season compromised the residents’ quality of life.

"When you look at the overall sanitation situation in the compounds, because of the poor state of the roads when it is rainy season, the people are vulnerable to communicable diseases and these are people that do not even have the money to access medical services and drugs," Mulafulafu said.

And Phiri said most roads were in a deplorable state during the rainy season. Phiri urged Zambians to maintain peace and called on the leadership to lessen the tension that was currently in the country.

He urged political parties to concentrate on developing the country and solve whatever differences they had through dialogue.

"Last year was very challenging and we should make sure that whatever differences we have, be it religious or political, we solve them through dialogue. As government preaches, they need to do more and show that they are doing something. Poverty levels are still high, the road infrastructure is in a bad state," Phiri said

He said there was need to ensure that the peace that the country enjoyed continued.

Labels: CARITAS, ROADS, SAM MULAFULAFU

posted by MrK @ 7:13 AM