By KASONDE KASONDE –

ABOUT 2,344 people are expected to benefit from the distribution of the 100 metric tonnes of relief maize that has been dispatched to Serenje district.

Serenje District Commissioner Charles Mwelwa said the district had started distributing relief maize which was stored at a Food Reserve Agency (FRA) warehouse meant for people in remote areas.

“The district received 100 metric tonnes of relief maize last month but due to the poor roads in the remote areas, efforts to commence distribution failed as we had no reliable transport”, Mr Mwelwa said.

Mr Mwelwa said the district could not distribute the relief maize due to a number of logistical problems that had since been addressed.

He said transportation was the major challenge as some parts of the district were not accessible by road.

Mr Mwelwa said most of the areas were in the valley that had no roads making them inaccessible.

He explained that the district had since received two choppers to be used in the distribution of the relief maize.

Mr Mwelwa said 80 percent of the relief maize would be given out as food for work while 20 percent would be given out for free targeting the aged and the disabled.

In November the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) released relief maize to the district to be distributed to people that were affected by floods that submerged and destroyed the fields.

Maize fields were completely destroyed in areas like Chisomo while other areas had poor rainfall patterns that caused crop failure.

The affected areas in the district that would receive the relief maize are Chisomo, Kaombe and Kabanshi which are in the remote parts of the district.