By CHILA NAMAIKO –

CHIEF Chipepo of the Tonga people in Gwembe District has cited the bad feeder roads in the area as a hindrance to the distribution of relief food to hunger stricken households.
The traditional leader has since called on Government, through the Rural Roads Unit (RRU) in Southern Province, to rehabilitate the dilapidated feeder roads in the mountainous district.
Chief Chipepo said in a telephone interview yesterday that the feeder road networks in Gwembe had become impassable and required urgent rehabilitation.
He said the deplorable state of road infrastructure in Gwembe had posed challenges to the Seventh Day Church (SDA) which the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) is using to distribute relief food.
The chief cited roads leading to Munyumbwe, Siabbamba, Hamatuba and Mulika areas, as some of the most damaged which needed urgent upgrading.
‘‘Gwembe is a mountainous district and we have a lot of challenges in road infrastructure. Most of our feeder roads are in critically poor state and impassable such that even the SDA Church is now finding difficulties to distribute relief food to needy families,’’ he said.
The traditional leader said there was need for the Government to upgrade the road networks, especially that the rain had now subsided.
Chief Chipepo said road traffic accidents were on the increase in Gwembe because of the state of the road network.
He said Gwembe had many investment opportunities, citing abundant water from Lake Kariba and that if Government could upgrade the roads, it would be easier for investors to invest.
Chief Chipepo said the coming of various investors could massively help Government in creating employment opportunities for the locals to improve their living standards.
He was grateful to Government for delivering an ambulance to Gwembe District Hospital which will be significant in handling emergency cases and delivery of quality health services to residents.
The ambulance is among the 60 ambulances that Government recently distributed to many hospitals across the country.
The ambulances are fitted with basic life support equipment to ensure pre-hospital care is provided by trained health personnel.