MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa says government should avail forms of financial support to individuals and families affected by coronavirus.<\/p>\n
He was speaking in a live briefing broadcast online in the wake of the Covid-19 menace that has seen government impose a 21-day national lockdown to try and contain the pandemic.<\/p>\n
The opposition leader said those who go into quarantine are not able to continue fending for their families and should start receiving forms of assistance from a deliberate national fund.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose who are tested and confirmed positive must get a form of financial support for a month while they fight and the deceased family a government relief fund for their beneficiaries,\u201d said the opposition leader.<\/p>\n
\u201cBereaved families need a Government Relief Fund for the beneficiaries so that we are able to create a social safety net.<\/p>\n
\u201cCushioning citizens from economic distress and speed up roll out of humanitarian support is vital. We must put in place social protection nets.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chamisa said funds must be sourced from the surplus that has been declared by Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube from government\u2019s 2% levy on electronic transfers.<\/p>\n
He urged the current Zanu PF led administration to ensure such assistance is given to beneficiaries free of any political bias.<\/p>\n
The opposition leader also pledged his party\u2019s full support towards efforts aimed at ameliorating the hardships experienced by ordinary locals.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe suggest a new and robust method in the provision of water, food, particularly mealie meal in the townships and countryside,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn our part (MDC-A), we have already instructed local authorities to do everything in their power to avail water.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe call upon central government to provide the necessary resources\u2026we suggest government subsidises and reduce the price of fuel and electricity and mobile network providers must reduce internet tariffs, price of data during this period of fighting the pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chamisa urged government to also create a new model that should see the country\u2019s informal sector decongested.<\/p>\n
\u201cPerhaps this is a perfect chance for new models of distributing our (fruit and vegetable) produce to the communities to be evolved,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn our context where we have over 5.7 million people in the informal sector, it is important to be elaborate in support mechanisms.\u201d<\/p>\n
The opposition leader said there was also need to plan ahead for a return to normal life without leaving any section of the society behind.<\/p>\n
\u201cA clear strategy on how the economy will be rescued and be made to come back to life, how people will return to work, how children will go back to school,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He added, \u201cA back to normal life roadmap, a reconstruction and recovery programme and creation of an enabling environment aimed at reducing the pain coming with coronavirus and general economic decay, which was at its peak even before corona.\u201d \u2013 Newzimbabwe<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa says government should avail forms of financial support to individuals and families affected by coronavirus. He was speaking in a live briefing broadcast online in the wake of the Covid-19 menace that has seen government impose a 21-day national lockdown to try and contain the pandemic. The opposition leader said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":18837,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[113,88],"class_list":["post-22061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-parties","tag-chamisa","tag-mdc"],"yoast_head":"\n