By Wisdom Ngwira
Mzuzu, May 5,Mana: Mzuzu City Council (MCC) says out of it budgeted K126 million to fight and contain the novel Corona Virus, only K6 million is available leaving a yawning K120 million gap.
The Council has since called upon various stakeholders to join hands in settling the gap so that the disease which has already infected three people in the city is checked.
Speaking during an interactive session with various stakeholders on Monday in the city, MCC Acting Chief Executive Officer, Yotam Mtafya said various stakeholders need to pull their financial resources together so that the disease is checked.
“We all know that covid-19 is an emergency. We are asking all sectors in the city as well as beyond to pull our efforts in the same direction so that we protect the citizenry which we serve.
“To meet this glaring gap, we have planned to reach out to different sectors, both non-governmental organisations and the business community in the city so that they take a part in contributing resources,” said Mtafya.
He expressed optimism that despite the gap, the council in close partnership with partners will settle the balance to ensure smooth operations.
Chairperson for MCC Covid-19 Special Task Force Dr. Douglas Lungu pleaded with different sectors working in various areas in the city to consider committing some resources even when the Covid-19 issue is outside their budget.
“We know that we have some organisations who already had budgeted what they would do before this pandemic came, we still ask them to still dig deep outside their proposed plans to accommodate the coronavirus fight cause,” said Dr Lungu.
He said various sectors may help the council in the pandemic’s fight through provision of money, goods as well as community adoption.
Currently, the country has 39 confirmed cases, three deaths and 27 people are clinically stable.
Mzuzu City’s Chiputula and Mzilawaingwe locations have recorded a case and two respectively.
