Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) has admitted facing
problems in assisting people that were in camps after Cyclone Freddy.
The Department’s spokesperson Chipiliro Khamula said this in Phalombe
on Wednesday during the tour of water, sanitation and hygiene (Wash)
activities IsraAid organisation is carrying out in the district.

During the tour, Group Village Head Chiophya complained that her
subjects were dumped without assistance after they left camps.
She said: “When we were in camps, non-governmental organisations were
giving us food. But after we left, especially considering that some
people were staying in schools, the assistance stopped.

“We are left to fight for our survival as our crops were swept away.
We were told that those whose houses were destroyed would be built new
ones, but nothing has happed. In short, we are abandoned.”
In his response, Khamula admitted that there were such problems, but
attributed them to financial challenges.
He said his organisation expected to receive $680 million (about K680
billion) for reconstruction and recovery response, but is yet to.

Said Khamula: “As you might know, there is global financial challenge
and this has affected our recovery plan.
“But all is not lost because we received K7 billion from the German
Government and K100 million from the World Bank. We will continue to
implement our plans.”
According to the spokesperson, 16 councils that were affected by
Cyclone Freddy had about 650 000 people in camps. However, the figure
is now around 50 000.

One of the effects of the cyclone was the damage of boreholes which
resulted into people drinking water from unsafe sources, according to
Chiophya.
IsraAid is trying to reduce the problem by repairing them in
traditional authorities Mkhumba and Jenala in the district as well as
Chikumbu in Mulanje.

The organisation’s roving head of mission, Nisarg Kalaiya, said they
are also training locals to repair boreholes.
“Water is life. So when in future disasters strike and boreholes are
damaged, they should be able to repair them instantly other than
waiting for technicians who might be far away,” he said.
One of the people that were trained, Beauty Banda, said she was
delighted considering that her area is flood prone. She boasted that
she could dismantle a borehole and make it without problems.

IsraAid was founded in 2001 as a coalition of Israeli disaster relief
and international development organisations.
Ends.

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