850 floods victims listed in KA

Malawi Government has listed 850 households in Karonga District as potential beneficiaries of relief items following floods that displaced 4 075 families.

Speaking in an interview yesterday, Karonga District director of planning and development Emmanuel Chirwa said the relief exercise was underway in the district. He said over 300 people had received the items by Thursday last week.

“We are giving the usual relief package. The families are getting a bag of maize, two blankets, beans, 10 metres of tarpaulins and cooking oil.

“I cannot give the total cost, but I can confirm that we are distributing the items. A good number of people have so far received the items,” said Chirwa.

However, Chirwa said a number of people need support.

He said officials are in touch with companies and other non-governmental organisations operating in the district to help with relief items.

“We have just discovered that a number of areas which were not accessible during the assessment have many victims and the damage in such areas was severe. So, we are trying to assess such areas for consideration,” said Chirwa.

He said the distribution exercise was also affected by chieftainship wrangles in the area of T/A Kilipula.

He said some chiefs were refuting the figures for beneficiaries, saying they were on the lower side. However, he said after talking to the chiefs, they understood the situation that not all people could be immediately helped.