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I will sweep away inefficient city officials–Nankhumwa

 

Local Government and Rural Development Minister Kondwani Nankhumwa has warned that some officials at the Lilongwe City Council who contributed to the inefficiency exhibited by the Lilongwe City Fire Brigade by showing up very late to try and put out the devastating Lilongwe Market fire, that destroyed millions of property on Friday morning, may be fired.

“I will sweep the inefficient people away,” the visibly annoyed minister declared on Friday afternoon, after touring the market that had been reduced to a shell of ashes and debris in the wake of the fire accident, arguably the worst in a series of market infernos to have emerged with a worrying frequency in all four cities and various towns in the country in recent years.lilongwe_fire1

Nankhumwa said he has summoned the city officials to an emergency 9am meeting today (Saturday) at which he intends to get to the bottom of what happened, particularly why the expected swift responsiveness of the fire brigade was negated.

Those accompanying Nankhumwa included Labour, Sports and Manpower Development Minister Henry Mussa, Chief Secretary George Mkondiwa, Malawi Police Service Inspector General Lexten Kachama and Lilongwe City Mayor Councillor Willy Chapondera.

Most of the owners of the burnt stalls, who talked to the minister during his visit, lamented that much of their property could have been saved had the city fire brigade responded to its initial emergency summoning swiftly.

What caused the fire is yet to be established. But some eyewitnesses say it started between 2am and 3am and quickly spread to all parts of the sprawling, overcrowded facility hosting hundreds of stall owners who include some businesspersons from neighbouring countries like Zambia and Tanzania.lilongwe_fire

The anything-goes poor planning at the gutted market included the city officials allowing businesspersons to run stalls made from shoddily-erected plywood and, even, cardboards. Apparently, the officials threw caution to the wind, as those plying their businesses at the market could be allowed to haul in vertually anything for sale, including chemicals, fuels and stacks of paper and cartons.

In no time after the fire started raging on Friday, thick black smoke billowed into the morning Capital City sky. In certain sections of the market, the fire leapt to well over 15 metres, the sheet heat keeping abay even the most daring businesspeople who wanted to salvage anything from their stalls.

That’s when the absence of the fire brigade was pronounced.

Unconfirmed reports say the city fire vehicles had no fuel and the firemen had to prod some officials to intervene on how to secure the fuel belatedly, long after the fire distress signal had first been received. It is said that some taxi operators, at one point, wanted to make contributions towards purchasing fuel to be put into the city fire vehicles.

Afterwards, two of the fire engines finally hurtled towards the burning market –reportedly well over an hour late. A Malawi Defence Force (MDF) fire  vehicle, from the airwing, off the Lilongwe-Mchinji Road, had been invited to help strengthen the city’s capacity to fight the fire.

As the three fire engines arrived at the scene, however, the emotionally-charged stall owners who had lost their property and well-wishers who tried to help them salvage any property from the inferno, booed and chased the convoy away, pelting stones on the vehicles and fire crew.

But when the people stoned the fire engines that eventually arrived, little did many know that a Malawi Defence Force (MDF) fire engine had been invited to help the city personnel in putting out the fire.

In the process, the stone throwers injured one of the the MDF firemen on the retreating convoy. He was rushed to Kamuzu Central HospitaL where he received outpatient treatment.

But a rumour briefly circulated to the effect that the injured soldier had died. Soon after, there was tension in the gutted market area when scores of soldiers appeared. Many people ran away, fearing that the soldiers would beat them up to exact vengeance over what had happened to their colleague.

Luckily, the tension lasted for only a short while.

According to  eyewitness Twaibu  Maleka, an identified person threw a stone at an MDF officer among the military fire engine crew and he was  rescued by fellow officers at the scene.

In interview with Nation On Line, MDF spokesperson Paul Chiphwanya said the rumour that had circulated –to the extent that the injured army officer had died– was untrue.

“I can confirm that  one officer at the Malawi Defence Force has been  hurt. He was  rushed to  Kamuzu Central Hospital where  has was treated  as  an out-patient,” said Chiphwanya.

Earlier, secretary for the Malawi Union for the Informal Sector Daniel Kamala lamented the fact that the fire accident had greatly paralysed its members who were trying their best to be successful in life at the now completely razed down market.

“Surely, if the fire brigade could have been on the scene, as soon as those who spotted it raised the SOS (distress signal), our misery could have been much more reduced. But big trouble has come our way and we will see how authorities will help us to bounce back business people with hope,” said Kamala, who also operates from the market

It seemed clear that after hearing of the market fire, as concerned stall owners rushed from their residential areas on Friday morning, they were hoping and praying that, somehow, their stalls would be spared. But when they saw only rubble where they had done their business, many openly wept.

A tearful businesswoman said she had just stocked her stall with goods and merchandise, after securing a K3 million bank loan, hours before the fire. “Now, what do I do, as everything is up in smoke?” she wondered sorrowfully.

That is the burning question on lips of the victims of the latest market fire accident in Malawi.

 

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