Maravi

MMD govt has failed Zambians on floods, observes Hamududu

MMD govt has failed Zambians on floods, observes Hamududu
By Ernest Chanda
Mon 01 Mar. 2010, 08:20 CAT

BWEENGWA UPND member of parliament Highvie Hamududu has said the MMD government has failed Zambians on the issue of floods. In an interview on Friday, Hamududu called on the government to own up and admit that they have failed the people.

He called on Zambians to speak louder through a demonstration against a failed leadership. He said it was immoral for the government to be wasting money every year on something they could provide a long-term solution to.

"The recurrence of floods in Lusaka that are known and predictable is a full test of a failed leadership. And the government must own up that they have failed the Zambian people in addressing the flood situation.

This is one case in point, we have the office of disaster management and disasters we have in Zambia are predictable; we've never had strange disasters basically except for a few mine disasters," Hamududu said. "But these ones are known.

We know that next year there'll be floods again or there will be a drought. But the government has failed to put up measures for preventing flood disasters.

The electorate must speak with a very clear voice, and, if possible let them demonstrate in the streets to show displeasure that there's no solution to the flood situation that has been here for so many years.

Over a decade you are complaining of serious floods in Lusaka and nothing is being done. And I think we must not make problems permanent and every year we spend money, that becomes costly. These lives that are being lost are human lives, and therefore we call upon the people to rise to the occasion and demand that this be addressed."

He said the government should provide preventive measures rather than wait for floods and then start reacting. Hamududu charged that some people were making money out of the flood disaster, hence the ineptitude.

"I can tell you, for example, after these floods we will be facing lack of water in some rural areas because water will not have been harvested.

So the office of disaster management must deal with preventive measures. For example let them design a master plan for waterways in Lusaka once and for all. And I think the electorate now must demand accountability on the issue of floods. This is not very simple.

We don't want next year again to talk of floods and cholera afterwards and many, many other problems," he said. " We know that some people are benefiting from these floods because every year there are floods and some people are supplying tents, other people are doing adhoc measures.

That is costly, it's better we spend once and for all on a long-term solution. And therefore the issue of floods must be addressed once and for all. So we demand a master plan from government to deal with these floods once and for all."

He scalded government for blaming the councils, saying local authorities had no capacity to run on their own.

"And government must own up. The blame on the council must stop. If you are in government, you are ruling; you must own up and do what is right.

The council has got no capacity to address these same floods because it is the central government, which compromised councils. They compromised councils because in some cases the same government is not releasing the grants on time. The valuation roles are outdated and these valuations are sponsored by government through the Ministry of Local Government," said Hamududu.

Most of the compounds in Lusaka and many other areas have been flooded following the heavy rains experienced, leaving bridges washed away and people’s homes water-logged.

Lusaka district commissioner Christah Kalulu is one of the people that have attributed the problems of floods in Lusaka to climate problems being experienced globally and that the government has no control over such occurrences.

Labels: FLOODS, HIGHVIE HAMUDUDU

posted by MrK @ 3:38 PM