Starvation has forced about 300 pupils from Chiyabi Basic School to stop going to School in Sinazongwe district following floods that have washed away bridges and fields.
In kafwambila pupils have also stopped going to School following floods that have turned steams into rivers.
Floods have also washed away fields and stopped the supply of basic food stuffs owing to impassable roads.
Sinazongwe District Commissioner (DC)Laiven Apuleni has described the situation as unfortunate and serious.
Mr. Apuleni noted that the food for most Schools that were on the School feeding programme have run out and the floods have made it impossible to transport the food to the affected areas.
He said last culvert in Chiyabi along Sinazeze-Chiyabi road was washed away and has also affected the pupil’s movement to School.
“Now we can’t transport the food and pupils can’t go to School because there is no food,” the Dc said.
Mr. Apuleni said the only alternative was to higher a boat from the business community to transport food on water using Lake Kariba.
He said food in most the Schools has run out because the ministry of Education was unable to transport it owing to impassable roads.
The DC said some food for pupils in Schools was still piled in Livingstone because of the damaged culverts along Maamba-Batooka road which is not accessible using heavy trucks.
Chiyabi Head teacher Progress Syappai said in a report written coped to the Sinazongwe DC and Sinazongwe Council vice Chairperson Fisher Zimana said that parents have also run out food.
Mr. Syappai noted in his report that out 262 boys at the School only 100 were attending classes and out of 280 girls only 120 were coming for lessons.
He said the situation was critical as people were being forced to walk for 35 km to look for food.
Mr. Zimana said a bag of a 15 kg roller mealie-meal was being sold at K70, 000.
He appealed to government to urgently look into the plight of people to save them from starvation.
The Sinzeze-Chiyabi road was also impassable following floods that have washed away culverts and bridges.
Namazambwe ward Councilor Benard Nzeka told ZANIS that the situation in kafwambila was pathetic as villagers were walking long distances to go and tbuy food stuffs in Mapatizhya in Kalomo district.
Mr.Nzeka who is the only councilor under the Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) said Namazambwe stream has burst its stream forcing pupils to stop going to School at Kafwambila Basic.
The Councilor disclosed that Mwendwa stream in Siameja has also turned into a river making the Bottom road from Maamba to Siampondo up to kalomo to be completely impassable.
He said the shortage of food stuffs such as mealie-meal has become critical as traders in Mapatizhya has taken advantage of the high demand to hike prices.
He said a bag of roller meal was being sold at K45, 000 and K40, 000.
Mr. Nzeka has since appealed for relief food though he said the food could only be transported to the area via Lake Kariba and airlifting it.
Kafwambila area and Siampondo are the furthest places in Sinazongwe and the roads were also impassable even during the dry season and the floods h
Sinazongwe district have also remained cut off following the floods that had damaged the culverts along Maamba-Batooka road.
Only light vehicles were using Mochipapa road via Choma while trucks and buses could not pass through it.
On Thursday President Levy Mwanawasa has declared the floods currently being experienced in some parts of the country a national disaster.
On Wednesday President Levy Mwanawasa appealed for humanitarian support from the Australian government and other members of the international community to enable the Zambian Government mitigate the effects of the current floods.
He said in Lusaka that the current floods had wreaked havoc in various parts of Zambia, leaving adverse effects, which Zambia alone could not manage to handle hence the plea for help.
[ZANIS]
