Chilomoni Police rehabilitation needs over K10 million

Tom Sangala July 27, 2015

483 1 minute read

The taskforce for the rehabilitation of the burnt Chilomoni Police sub-Station in Blantyre has established that the project will need over K10 million.

On June 22 this year, some people set on fire the sub- Station after death of a man who the people alleged was killed by police officers.

Speaking when the Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security Atupele Muluzi visited the station on Friday, Chairperson for the taskforce Chifundo Lingao said an engineer and quantity surveyor told the committee that about K10 million is required for materials only.

“If we are to include issues of labour and other services, we are looking at about K12 to K15 million for the project to materialise,” Lingao said.

He said for the committee to achieve its objectives, it needs community support in terms of funding.

The taskforce is made up of community members who have come together to assist in trying to bring the police station back to the position where it was. So, we are relying mostly on the goodwill of the citizens and the residents because without security, we are destitute in our neighbourhood,” he said.

Lingao said some people have already volunteered to carry out other services including electrical and glass fixing.

During the Friday interface meeting Blantyre City Mayor Noel Chalamanda also promised that the city council will support with labour.

Muluzi said he went there to encourage the community for demonstrating excellent community service.

“What is very encouraging is that following the incident the community has come together to mobilise resources in making sure that Chilomoni Police sub-Station is rehabilitated. This is an important station which serves not only just the residents of Chilomoni but also the surrounding communities,” Muluzi said

He said the incident surprised him as Chilomoni has always been a model township with peaceful residents and good community service.

Commissioner of Police for the Southern Region, George Kainja said the relationship between the Police and Chilomoni residents remains cordial despite the incident.

“Going by the understanding that is there between the community and the police now, all we are saying is; perhaps it wouldn’t be proper for us to go and dig deeper on this issue because we want the wounds to heal and forge ahead.

“The community has come forward to show that they are also concerned about what happened. Therefore, all we are saying is; let’s bury the past and look forward,” Kainja said.

He said the police service noticed that the incident happened due to communication breakdown.

“Without that breakdown, there wouldn’t be a situation as it is now. Therefore, what we are doing now is to improve on the way we give feedback to the public because the moment there is any misinformation or a breakdown in terms of communication we may face a similar situation,” he said.