By Stanley Nkhondoyachepa:
Malawi president, Dr. Lazarus Chakwera says what Tropical Cyclone Freddy has done to Malawi is so devastating that any recovery or reconstruction will require working together to move towards a future that is more prepared for climate shocks.
He was speaking on Monday at Kamuzu palace in Lilongwe when he presented a K120 million cheque, to the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) for Cyclone Freddy response.
The president said he launched the operation Tigwirane Manja in March, as a mechanism for building a national wide coalition committed to working together to bring relief to those affected by disasters.
“I am honoured to make my own contribution to Operation Tigwirane Manja through my Presidential charity and I am grateful to all the private sector who participated in the charity Golf Tournament six months ago and made it possible for my charity to make this kind of contribution in dark time like this” he said.
The president noted that at the moment, it is not just people in the southern region that have been affected by the devastation though that remains the epicenter.
“Presently, there is also climate change devastation unfolding in Karonga and I will be going there next week to inspect the drought and flooding that has affected Malawians there” he said.
The president said he had made the donation to DoDMA because the department is performing excellently in coordinating the response to the current national disaster among others,
“in the past, DoDMa was often used as a conduit for fraud and misuse of resources which damaged its credibility. But six months after I got into office, I made changes in the leadership of the department and required them to directly report to my office” he said.
Chairman for the Presidential Charity initiative, Vizenge Kumwenda, described the situation faced by the Cyclone freddy survivors as dire, observing families need immediate assistance.
He said the donations by different organisations which included Illovo sugar will go a long way in alleviating the suffering by the survivors.
Commissioner for DoDMA, Charles Kalemba said there are many displaced people who need daily support.
He said currently, 2.5 million people are affected with 676 confirmed deaths while 537 are reported to be missing.
Kalemba said there are 750 camps hosting 143, 000 households while 44 roads have been affected in addition to vast hectares of crops, while many health and education facilities have been rendered unusable.
The Commissioner said currently the department is doing a post-disaster need assessment which will inform its next course of action.
Kalemba also said the department will from next week start decommissioning some camps and give assistance to the survivors, promising that issues concerning their welfare will also be taken care of, and no one will go back home crying.
The donated items included 20 bales of Blankets by SAVENDA Group of Companies, while Illovo sugar donated K100 million worth of various relief items to Cyclone Freddy survivors.
