Government says the newly launched National Adaptation Action Programme (NAPA) on climate change is a timely development that would assist the country to access funds under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Adaptation Fund.
And Government has appealed to people living in flood prone areas to move to upper lands in order to avoid their houses from collapsing due to the heavy rains the country has continued to experience.
Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources Minister Michael Kaingu says even though government attaches great importance to mitigating the effects of floods in the country, there is need for communities living in areas prone to flash floods to complement government efforts by moving to higher and safer lands.
Mr Kaingu told ZANIS in an interview that government is concerned with the behaviour of people refusing to relocate to upper land despite government appeals that they move to safer lands in order to avoid more disasters.
Meanwhile, Mr Kaingu has described the operationalisation of the Climate Adaptation Fund as a timely development that would add value to the effective implementation of the National Adaptation Action Programme (NAPA) which is meant to address the effects of climate change.
Mr Kaingu told ZANIS in an interview that access to the fund would enhance Zambia’s efforts in implementing climate change adaptation programmes and fulfill the vision of poverty reduction as enshrined in the Firth National Development Programme (FNDP).
He said the adaptation programmes would cover sectors such as agriculture, water, forestry, wildlife and health among other areas vulnerable to climate change.
Mr Kaingu further said that Zambia would immensely benefit from the climate adaptation fund as the fund would mainly be accessed by developing countries that were party to the Kyoto Protocol and were particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.
And Mr Kaingu has urged the Zambia National Tourism Board (ZNTB) to take advantage of the coming 2010 Soccer World Cup and the 2011 All African Games in Zambia and seriously market Zambia’s tourism potential.
Mr Kaingu said ZNTB should make the 2010 Soccer World Cup slated for South Africa and the 2011 All African Games to be held in Zambia as a marketing tool for the country’s tourism sector.
He also disclosed that his ministry is in the process of coming up with the carnival type of tourism which would enable the country to market its tourism potential meaningfully to other regions.
The Minister further disclosed that his ministry will hold an inter-ministerial meeting to see how the Zambian tourism sector can be marketed ahead of the 2010 World Cup and the 2011 All African Games.
Mr Kaingu has since challenged the private sector to take advantage of the World Cup and the All African Games to improve the hospitality standards and the communication sector.
A launch of a programme such as NAPA, in my view should not primarily been seen as a conduit for accessing funds elsewhere such as United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Adaptation Fund as viewed by Govt official. We need to start looking at what we can do for ourselves to support these important national programmes. Let us change in the way we perceive issues.