Petroleum Importers support Nsanje flood victims with K6m worth of relief items

PIL General Manager, Martin Msimuko presenting the donation 

By Victor Singano Jnr, Correspondent

As people in the Lower Shire continue to struggle with their livelihood after the effects of Cyclone Ana and Gombe, Malawi’s Petroleum Importers Limited (PIL) reached out to them with assorted food and non-food items worth K6 million in three evacuation camps in Nsanje.

The assistance was supported by the company’s shareholders — Puma, Total, Petroda and Vivo that included maize flour, beans, Likuni Phala, buckets amongst others.

The items were donated to Mambundungu camp (that accommodates 206 families); Mota Engil (666 families) and Mbengu Clinic camp of 187 families.

PIL General Manager, Martin Msimuko said they decided to pool their resources together taking cognizance that despite other humanitarian stakeholders reaching out to the people of the Lower Shire with such assistance, the magnitude of the two Cyclones rendered the communities with so many economic challenges that would take longer to be solved.

He also said they were responding to the call made by the county’s President Lazarus Chakwera to help alleviate challenges flood victims are facing.

“After declaring over 14 districts as disaster areas on January 26, the Head of State, made an appeal for relief assistance to help improve the wellbeing of people affected by the floods,” Msimuko said. “In response, PIL — together with our shareholders — has come together to join hands with all well-meaning Malawians to assist with the situation.

 

He added that PIL understood the impact of the floods that the company empathizes with the victims of the recent floods caused by tropical cyclones Ana and Gombe.

“At PIL, we put ardent interest on communities to respond to issues that jeopardize their well-being. Following the floods caused by the tropical storms, Ana and Gombe, there has been a huge loss of infrastructure, property and lives. PIL commiserate with the victims who have been left destitute,” he said.

He further challenged the victims and other stakeholders to be vigilant through establishment of ways that could reduce massive damage once floods hit.

“These people needs to be relocated to highland areas to avoid further damage caused by the storms. We need to come up with smart ways of mitigating the impact of floods through mindset change and establishment of proper infrastructures,” he said.

In his remarks, chairperson of Mambundungu camp Francis Zuze expressed gratitude to PIL, the affected people in the camps still need assistance until such a time they relocate to their respective areas.

“These people are in dire need of humanitarian aid and this donation is of paramount importance in the rebuilding exercise,” Zuze said. “Thus we thank PIL for coming in to assuage some of the challenges being faced by these people.”

Chief Mambundungu also concurred with Msimuko by emphasizing that there was need to relocate people in flood prone areas to to highlands.

“After the the 2015 floods, we relocated to this area from Ntchuwa which was then declared disaster area. Following cyclone Ana and Gombe, the area became a disaster area as well.

“We are pleading with the government to consider relocating us because this area is just as lowland as our previous area,” Mambundungu said.

The donation comes barely two weeks after the fuel importers assisted Dzumila Community Day Secondary School and Bereu Primary School in Chikwawa by replacing teaching and learning materials that were also damaged by the floods.