Chasefu District Commissioner Lufeyo Ngoma has warned charcoal burners in the area to desist from indiscriminate cutting down of trees.
The District Commissioner said those involved in the wanton cutting down of trees for charcoal production will face the law because their activity is destructive to the environment.
Mr Ngoma sounded the warning when he addressed residents at Mthwalo trading center in Chasefu district.
He said the rampant indiscriminate cutting down of trees affects the environment as it creates the negative effects that are leading to climate change.
Mr Ngoma said he was aware that people in the area are cutting down trees, producing charcoal and later transporting it into neighbouring Malawi for sale.
“I am warning you for the last time, stop cutting trees for charcoal production. When you get arrested it’s up to you, I don’t want my office to receive a complaint report pertaining to this,” the District Commissioner said.
Mr Ngoma also advised residents not to cut trees for opening up new crop fields but must instead maintain their existing fields.
And a local resident, Ben Zimba named Chijokeni, Munyathe, Mnyoka, Mthwalo and Ponda as areas where people were cutting trees to produce huge quantities of charcoal.
“What I have observed is that people here are poor, and they are forced to engage themselves in charcoal burning to earn a living without knowing the consequences,” he said.
Mr Zimba has suggested to charcoal burners to abandon their activities and instead apply for Constituency Development Funds to engage in less destructive business activities.
Meanwhile, Magodi Community Forest Management Group (CFMG) Chairperson Androse Zimba recently said his group is prepared to empower charcoal burners who are ready to stop the vice with goats, pigs and chicken to venture into either livestock or poultry business.
This behaviour of always warning people is outdated and needs to be scrapped off the Zambian package of official words. And this affair of always asking people to go into poultry and goat rearing is silly and shows our refusal to think. Should everyone in the rural areas start farming animals? There is acute loadshedding and people are relying on charcoal and you want to ban the business? They talk about CDF and tell people to use that ’empowerment’ for silly businesses?
Cry my country, why do we have such mindsets?
The cdf does not exist. It is all in the bank accounts of upnd officials. Wait till we win in 2026 we will come after you
PF BURIAL IS SET FOR 2026
So there is high demand for charcoal due to loadshedding and you are issuing warnings…you want them to appy for CDF for what? You are waiting for NGOs to come and fund face to face lectures on how to apply for it and alternatives.
Surely so you give them CDF then what next? The charcoal has two ends the producer and the consumer….so who gets the CDF?
What are people in rural areas going to use if they don’t use charcoal?
Rural? Urban, Urban
Yes give them a hoax of a CDF so that they can hallucinate on buying trucks to transport more charcoal to the urban poor.
Damn it! Sack that nigga in the ministry of the so called green energy and scrap the Ministry. What a useless Ministry.
Let these guys seize the opportunity to burn as much charcoal as possible. Maybe the mole in state house will realize that climate change is real and that his Ministries of Energies are inept useless at the moment.
We have mamba that produces coal.
Why can’t we make coal available for domestic use?