Thread: State of emergency on floods declared in northern Namibia

Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba has declared a state of emergency on the floods which severely affected the northern and northeastern parts of the country over the last weeks.
The President said at a media briefing at State House on Tuesday that although government has been carrying out various measures in efforts to deal with the situation, its resources alone cannot cope with the situation, which has displaced many people in Oshana, Omusati, Ohangwena and Caprivi Regions.
Thus, the private sector and the international community have been called upon to lend a helping hand to the flood victims during the crisis as well as the aftermath. Such help will include the rehabilitation of roads and bridges which have reportedly been swept away at some parts of the flood-affected regions.
“In this regard, I must single out roads, bridges, schools and health facilities as toping the list. To this end, our government played a major role this year assisting our farmers to plant more. Various assistance schemes subsidies and assistance with ploughing and planting services,” he said.
It is for this reason that government has high hopes that with these schemes in place, the country will not be a victim of shortfall in staple food supply during the 2008/09 budget year.
With the arrival of rains after a long and sustained drought, all looked well and farmers were encouraged even more to expand their crop production.
“From the look if things, all our efforts were to no avail as a result of severe flooding that we are experiencing in our northern areas,” Pohamba said.
Heavy rains received since January have resulted in water logging and leaching with led to poor germination and stunted growth of crops.
Flood waters flowing from Angola have also exacerbated the situation.
Preliminary figures obtained from the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry indicate that communal farmers in the north have lost about 25 850 animals of which 17 934 are large livestock and 7 916 are small livestock.
Despite this, animals in these areas are still dying in large numbers and Pohamba said grazing in large parts of the affected areas will be very poor as a result of excessive water.
Additionally, a large number of schools have also been affected by this crisis. For instance, in Ohangwena Region, 17 schools involving 3 715 learners and 108 teachers have been affected while in Kabbe Constituency of the Caprivi Region, nine schools involving 1 278 learners and 58 teachers have been affected.
“I am informed that more flood waters have come from Angola in recent days. In addition, more rains have been received in the north and the forecast indicated that more rain is still to come. This state of affairs is likely to aggravate the already desperate situation,” said Pohamba.
He therefore urged the general public to join hands in assisting those affected by floods by providing food, blankets and tents.
(NAMPA)