Lilongwe, July 24, 2015: The Department of Disaster Management Affairs has not finalized resettling families who were forced off their homes by floods which hit the country this year and has not given a timeline on when they will be through with the exercise.
It has now been seven months after the country experienced heavy floods which left some people dead and many families displaced forcing them to seek refuge in temporal camps but till now the last group of the flood victims has yet to find its way back home.
Principal Secretary (PS) and Commissioner for the Department Bernard Sande said the process of helping the flood victims back to their homes is still ongoing but the department retains the hope that very soon it will be done with the work.
Sande was speaking in an interview on the sidelines of a donation of various relief items valued at 10 million kwacha which his department received from Rotary Club of Bwaila in Lilongwe on Thursday afternoon.
“We have relocated some of the victims but some are still in the camps and by now I would not be in a position to say when we will be through because it is a process and it takes time. It depends on a number of factors therefore it would be difficult for me to give a timeline,” said Sande.
The PS said while government is doing its best to provide relief and recovery assistance to people who were caught up in the disaster, the enormity and nature of resources required is so huge that government cannot do it on its own.
“The need to reach out and help these victims in different ways is still there that is why as government we are so pleased when organisations come up with interventions like these. The survival kits we have received today will come handy to survivors of the floods,” he said.
Among other items contained in the 100 boxes of the survival kits include water purifiers, torches, essential medicines, blankets and tarpaulins among others.
Speaking when presenting the donation on behalf of fellow Rotarians, president of the club Rotarian Patrick Mhango said they are aware of the challenges which such disasters pose to the people hence making their donation.
“Our aim and objective as a club is to help those people who are suffering and those who have found themselves in less fortunate situations like the flood victims. We believe that these survival kits will help ease their suffering,” said Mhango.
Recently the department of disaster launched a post needs assessment report which showed that the 2015 floods caused an estimated MK146 billion in damage and losses which will require recovery and reconstruction needs of MK215 billion.
The devastating floods hit 15 of the country’s 28 districts representing a third of the country’s population.
The fifteen districts include Nsanje, Chikwawa, Phalombe, Zomba, Blantyre, Chiradzulu, Thyolo, Mulanje, Balaka, Machinga, Mangochi, Ntcheu, Salima, Rumphi and Karonga.
