Find long term empowerment solutions to charcoal burners, Kanyama tells government

Ruling United Party for National Development (UPND) founding member, Lovemore Kanyama, has appealed to Siavonga traditional leadership and government to engage and find long term empowerment solutions to charcoal burners.

Kanyama also supported the move taken by the government in trying to preserve forests in the disrict which had been greatly affected by climate change.

The former Siavonga District Commissioner in a statement issued in Lusaka on Tuesday noted that this, however, had to come with a long term solution that would see charcoal burners completely out of the charcoal business .

He further said that those families involved in charcoal business in Siavonga are less than 100 hence the need to empower them before moving them out of the forest.

“Pushing away people like criminals is not the best move but engaging and empowering them as well encouraging them to change their business mindset to something else rather than charcoal Business,” Kanyama stated.

He noted that the action should have started early before the rainy season and unlike implementing it now, those families involved in charcoal business should have been prepared and empowered.

Kanyama said that cutting down trees had negatively contributed to the poor rainfall in the district as well as climate change.

“I am not in support of displacing people when rains have just started, even as they move from the forest which they occupied for 7-10 years to their respective areas,” he stated.

Kanyama emphasized that certain things had to be considered such as shelter for both human and domestic animals .

He said that everyone was affected deforestation and that the poor rainfall the district was receiving made it exigent for long lasting and permanent solutions to be implemented.

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