CABINET GIVEN 24HRS TO DEVISE FOOD PLAN

LOBAMBA – Cabinet has been given a 24-hour ultimatum to come up with a solution on how it will feed the thousands of hungry Swazis who have been affected by the drought situation.

This comes at a time when government has just confirmed that it does not have a budget to feed the thousands of people affected by the drought brought about by El Nino.  It was revealed that currently 107 000 people were in need of food aid and the figures were expected to rise

. The motion giving Cabinet an ultimatum was moved by Lugongolweni Member of Parliament (MP) Joseph Souza, following the Deputy Prime Minister Paul Dlamini’s statement that government had insufficient funds to carry out the food distribution exercise. MP Souza said the situation was very serious and implored the DPM to go and find answers on how he would get funding to cater for the hungry Swazis.

He was supported by Nkwene MP Sikhumbuzo Dlamini, who said the hunger situation was very severe at constituency level and they did not know what to tell the constituents. MP Dlamini said they had made promises that officials from the DPM’s Office were coming up with a relief programme following the passing of the supplementary budget by parliamentarians for the programme. However, he said certain constituencies had been identified as beneficiaries while others were left out yet the situation was very dire.

The MP further noted that Cabinet was treating the matter lightly yet it needed to be taken seriously. Other parliamentarians also voted in favour of the motion to be approved. Mtfongwaneni MP Mjuluko Dlamini pointed out that government should consider suspending other projects and committing the funds to the drought relief programme as many Swazis will die of hunger if an immediate solution was not found.

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