Scott urges people living in flood-prone areas to move

COMMENT - An alternative would be start works on irrigation and on forestation. This would increase employment, as well as store water or agricultural use throughout the year.

Scott urges people living in flood-prone areas to move
By Henry Sinyangwe
Tue 16 Oct. 2012, 11:50 CAT

VICE-PRESIDENT Guy Scott has asked people living in disaster-prone areas to move to safer areas before the rains intensify.

Receiving mobile phones donated by Airtel to the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit yesterday, for communication in remote areas in times of disaster, Vice-President Scott said people renting houses in quarry areas should try to avoid previous years' situations, where they were affected by flooding.

"People that are living in flood-prone areas just have to move. If people have built houses in quarries which is a major source of the problem, those houses are going to end up under water, given the recent events. We don't want a crisis to occur. If you live in a property that goes under water, then its common sense to move," Vice-President Scott said.

He urged the mobile service providers to help government mitigate disasters by providing access to communication.

"So this is why we are saying can Zamtel, MTN and Airtel get together and provide us with the minimum cost servicing. If this will turn out to be useful to the DMMU, I think we have to keep an open mind because usually the problem with most disasters is not just about communication but how fast we are able to get there," said Vice-President Scott.

And Airtel managing director Fayaz King said his organisation was committed to helping the country mitigate disasters.

"The purpose of providing the android phones is because of its versatility; it has Google, weather application, so you have the ability take photographs...we will top up the bundles and airtime so that the people in the field can be able to use them," said King.