And the Government has said it would not declare the flood situation in
Western Province as a national disaster because it had not failed to
cope with the natural calamity.
A visit yesterday showed that the road was washed away by the water at
Malengo, 100 kilometres from Lusaka resulting in the creation of a big
gorge making it difficult for motorists from either side to pass
through to the other part.
The soil under the road was weakened when water from a nearby stream
diverted its course and started passing underneath resulting in the
road giving in.
Road Development Agency (RDA) head of public relations, Loyce Saili,
who confirmed the development after a tour of the site, said in
Chirundu that the incident happened last night.
She said the RDA had mobilised a team of experts who would move to the
site to repair the damaged road. Ms Saili said that in the interim, RDA
had engaged a contractor to do a provisional repair works on the road.
We suspect that the collapse of the road has been caused by water
sipping through under the road after the debris blocked the culvert
thereby blocking the passage of the water, she said.
Some of the affected motorists appealed to the RDA to quickly repair
the road. One truck driver who is from South Africa, Tichivangan
Mukombe, who was proceeding to Kitwe appealed to RDA to expedite the
repair of the road.
Ms Saili said RDA would require more than r K27 billion to repair washed away infrastructure since the rain started this year.
In a related development, the Lunsemfwa pontoon on Kabwe-Old Mkushi
Road in Central Province has been closed with effect from today.
Works and Supply Permanent Secretary, Bizwayo Nkunika said in a
statement in Lusaka yesterday that high water levels and the burst of
the river necessitated the closure of the pontoon operations. He urged
motorists and the general public to use alternative routes.
The Government will not declare the flood situation in Western Province as a national disaster.
Giving an update in Parliament on the flood situation in Western
Province, Vice-President George Kunda said that the Government had not
failed to cope with the situation in the province.
He said that in fact, the Government was addressing the issue of floods
and was putting in place measures to address the situation in flood-hit
districts of Western Province. The districts hit by floods are Kaoma,
Lukulu, Mongu, Sesheke, Senanga, Kalabo and Shang'ombo.
Mr Kunda said declaring the flood situation a disaster would entail
re-directing all the resources budgeted for development to the response
efforts of floods.
This is the reason why the declaration of a situation as a national
disaster comes as a last option and it only comes when the situation
fits into the technical definition of a disaster, Mr Kunda said.
The technical definition of a disaster is the loss incurred by a
community affected outstrips the ability of the affected community to
cope using their own resources.
As the situation was in the nation, he said that the Government had not
failed to handle the issue of floods in Western Province.
Times of Zambia
Post published in: News