By Chinoyi Chipulu
Save Environment and People’s Agency (SEPA) says solar panels which President Hakainde Hichilema is advocating for are expensive, saying Zambians are poor and living under hell conditions.
And SEPA says increased loadshedding is encouraging deforestation as there has been an increase in the demand for charcoal.
Speaking in an interview yesterday, SEPA chief executive officer Mailes Muke said this development would hinder the fight against climate change in the country.
Muke said charcoal was on high demand hence charcoal burners were cutting more trees to meet supply needed.
“We have noticed with concern that charcoal business is booming meaning that people are cutting more trees and this is contributing to deforestation. The reason why the charcoal business is booming is because of loadshedding, people have got no alternatives for energy, the only alternative now is to attack the forest,” she said.
Muke said that the fight against climate change would be compromised in the country.
“Some burners are just cutting trees and most of them are not even replanting them,” she said. “Everyone is buying charcoal for them to cook, so now we the people fighting climate change, it’s like we are not doing anything because even the trees will not be saved as the whole country has gone rampant cutting down trees. Solars which the president is advocating for is expensive. Zambians are poor, they are living under hell conditions.”
She said even small business like salons have closed down, people no longer sell freezits or water because of the long hours of loadshedding.
“This loadsheding has brought a lot of calamities, sometimes it’s good for government to be remorseful and truthful and apologise to the people unlike fooling them,” Muke said.
She has called on the government to speed up the process of solving this problem of power deficit.
“Three hours that most get is not enough. Everything seems to be destroyed in the country, small gardens have dried up because you can’t have water when there is no power. Government should solve this problem so that we can fight deforestation,” said Muke.
