Times Of Swaziland: CABINET GIVEN 24HRS  TO DEVISE FOOD PLAN

CABINET GIVEN 24HRS  TO DEVISE FOOD PLAN
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 BY SITHEMBILE HLATSHWAYOE  on 10/12/2015 05:08:00


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.