Cabinet on Wednesday approved N.dollars 72 million to assist the northern flood-prone areas by providing community members with clean drinking water, blankets, tents, mattresses, food, mosquito nets and psychosocial support systems.

The decision was taken at the Cabinet’s First Decision Making meeting, which took place in the capital on Wednesday.

A Cabinet decision document seen by Nampa on Friday states that the same meeting supported the Office of the Prime Minister’s Directorate of Disaster Risk Management to conduct an in-depth impact assessment, with proposals for interventions to be taken by government to the regions of Oshana, Omusati and Ohangwena, which have been affected by floods.

“Cabinet also mandated the national disaster risk management committee to ensure optimal and effective coordination of emergence and relief responses to these affected communities,” said the document.

The Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture was directed by the same meeting to propose to government its workable interventions that would effectively assist in the resumption of teaching and learning activities in the flood-affected schools of the three regions.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform was also directed to urgently supply potable water to the areas as well as boats and sanitation facilities.

Cabinet further instructed the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform to upgrade its early warning flood systems so that in the future forecasting and monitoring of flood activities become easy.

The agriculture, water and land reform ministry was further ordered to construct artificial earth dams in Oshana, Omusati and Ohangwena regions so that the harvesting of the flood waters for post-flood agricultural use becomes reality.

Also approved at the meeting was the provision of food assistance on an urgent basis for programmes by government to the affected communities for a period of 16 months, or until the next land cultivation and harvesting, as the land tilling efforts there were hampered by floods.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency