Health expert puts Kazungula on disease alert

——An Environmental Health Specialist at Kazungula district health office, Angelina Mungole, says there is need for the district to be on the alert of any diseases such as cholera.

Ms Mungole warned that the rainy season always comes with its own challenges, hence the need for all stakeholders to be on the alert all the time in case of any eventualities.

Speaking at a Disaster Management and Mitigation Committee meeting to prepared the district in terms of any outbreak of diseases during this season, Ms Mungole also noted that there has been a lot of dog bites in the surrounding communities.

She observed that most community members in the district do not take their dogs for vaccination and urged the culprits to start doing so in order to prevent their dogs against rabies.

And speaking at the same meeting, Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) Kazungula Station Manager, Mupishi Miti, disclosed that there are a lot of stray dogs at Kazungula Border Post.

Mr Miti, who said it is not known where the vicious dogs were coming from, appealed to the council, health and veterinary departments to address the issue.

He said there must be sanity at the border post especially that it was one of the transit points for the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UN WTO) delegates ahead of the conference to be co-hosted by Zambia and Zimbabwe in August this year.

And, Kazungula District Council Planner, Kennedy Chiimpa said the council will take the lead in addressing the issue of stray dogs at the border post, saying it will have a very big impact on part of the district if not taken seriously.

Meanwhile, District Deputy Director of Works, Dambe Lubinda, informed the house that the district has so far recorded some road and infrastructural disasters.

Mr Lubinda disclosed that the council has received reports that Mweemba and Sianankange bridges, both situated along Zimba-Nyawa road, have been excessively damaged and needed to be worked on.

He added that the Machile bridge along Mulobezi-Moomba road and Du-Bois bridge in Kauwe ward have also been damaged, adding that the extent of the damages were yet to be verified.

Other emergencies include Manyemunyemu Basic School under Mukuni Chiefdom and Siakalima Community School in Chief Musokotwane’s area whose classroom blocks’ roofs were blown while Chuulu Caamba dam that was washed away.

Mr Lubinda said the extent of the damages for both the school and the dam were also yet to be verified.