. Wina

By SAM PHIRI –
VICE-PRESIDENT Inonge Wina has declared the continued rampaging of army worms as a national crisis and implored the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) to improve communication with the affected provinces in curbing the crop-eating pests.
Ms Wina said this during the launch of the emergency operation to eliminate the outbreak of the army worms at the DMMU offices in Lusaka yesterday.
The pests have so far attacked crops in Lusaka, Central, Copperbelt and Luapula provinces, while the remaining six provinces have reported incidences of fall-army worms.
The Vice-President expressed concern over the poor communication flow between the DMMU Call Centre and the affected provinces.
“We do realise that in some areas, there is limited communication system like the communication towers, so the use of a cell phones may not be there but we can use people on the ground to reach out to the communities in far-flung areas,” she said.
Ms Wina also directed the DMMU to engage members of Parliament, councilors and traditional leaders in providing information to technical staff on the presence of the worms.
The Vice-President emphasised on the importance of early reporting of the army worms and that time had come for the Government to engage other stakeholders in the acquisition of information in all affected provinces.
“Timely intervention is very important, because these worms do not wait for you to make a decision, they are attacking at all times. The fact that information and figures are coming in batches means we are not getting information at the right time,” she said.
Ms Wina, however, congratulated the Ministry of Agriculture for the effort to contain the pests, but still saw the need for more camp officers to communicate the right information at the right time for effective and timely intervention.
“I would also like to urge farmers who are able to purchase this chemical not to wait for the Government. You can buy and ask the technical staff here (DMMU) on the directions of use,” she said.
DMMU national coordinator Patrick Kangwa said the unit had so far distributed 15,940 litres of chemicals to affected provinces, with the Copperbelt receiving the highest volume.
Mr Kangwa, however, said there was urgent need for 9,600 litres of chemicals for Lusaka, Central and Luapula provinces.
“So far DMMU has spent K7 million in the operation but we still require K10 million more for additional chemicals and other requirements,” he said.
Last year on December 28, President Edger Lungu directed the DMMU to launch an emergency operation to elimination the outbreak of the army worms.