Hunger looms in Shangombo

Hunger looms in Shangombo

Shangombo, June 12th ZANIS—Hunger is looming in Shangombo following the poor harvest that the district experienced after the 2012/2013 farming season.

And Sinjembela Member Parliament (MP) Poniso Njeulu has advised the people in the district to be patient as government was working towards addressing the hunger situation.

Mutomena ward councilor, Mukosiko Mwanaluka said following the poor rainfall pattern in the last farming season, most farmers in the area had poor harvests.

Mr. Mwanaluka has since appealed to the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) to send relief food in order to alleviate the looming hunger in the area.

ZANIS reports that the councilor said this at Mutomena Basic School in Shangombo District yesterday during the women empowerment meeting which was organised by the Ministry of Gender and Child Development.

Mr. Mwanaluka said most families in the area were faced with starvation because they cannot afford to buy mealie meal whose price has been increased.

The councilor also called on government and the mobile phone service providers to put up communication facilities such as towers in the area.

He said it was difficult for people in the district to communicate effectively with the rest of the country as the three mobile phone service providers namely Airtel, MTN and Zamtel were not easily accessible.

Mr. Mwanaluka also appealed to government to work on the roads in the area so that the community can enjoy road transport services like the rest of the country.

However, Sinjembela Member Parliament (MP) Poniso Njeulu advised the people in the area to wait until August this year when the DMMU will start distributing relief food.

On concerns about poor communication in the area, Mr. Njeulu said government, in conjunction with the mobile phone service providers, has procured five transmitters for Sioma and Shangombo districts respectively.