By Mary Makhiringa
Balaka, May 13, Mana: District Commissioner (DC) for Balaka, Emmanuel Bambe Tuesday hailed Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) within and outside Balaka for a positive gesture by donating items towards the fight of COVID-19 pandemic in the district.
He said, it was encouraging to see NGOs donating various items to the district, a thing he described as encouraging and a relief to the council.
Bambe made the remarks when Oxfam donated various hygiene and sanitation enhancing materials to households of Traditional Authority (TA) Amidu in Balaka.
He said that, “We are grateful as a council for the donations that we get, and today Oxfam has come to make their donation.
“As a Council we have made strides in the sensitization of communities through the Area Development Committees and Full Council. The sector heads have also been reached and above all through our information office, we are going round the areas with messages through public address system.”
Oxfam Country Director, Lingalireni Mihowa said as part and parcel of supporting government response towards Covid-19 pandemic in the first quarter they have mobilized resources to be spread out in eight districts in the country.
She said, “We mobilized K280 million to support the scaling up of public hygiene, and we will also support household with social protection products through social cash transfers.
“This is because there is a disruption of the markets as it is an agriculture season and we know people are not able to sell their commodities more.”
According to the Country Director, they took the household approach, because they want households to embrace hygiene so that they protect themselves from the pandemic.
Village Head Kalembo urged all his subjects to fully use the received materials, saying Covid-19 pandemic is lethal.
“Many of us now know that as a country we have over 50 confirmed cases of the pandemic; let us all be on the look; let us practice good hygiene as advised; let us put into good use all the things that we have received,” he urged.
It is expected that over 800 families of TA Amidu, Kalembo and Phalula will benefit from the donation.
