Maputo — The Mozambican government on Tuesday lifted the red alert that was activated in January due to the floods crisis in river valleys in central and southern Mozambique.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Council of Ministers (Cabinet). The government spokesperson, Deputy Justice Minister Alberto Nkutumula, said that the government is maintaining a lower level of alert, an orange alert, in these areas.

Nkutumula said the red alert was lifted because the level of all the rivers has dropped substantially, and the trend is for a continued reduction in their level.

But an orange alert remains in place “because the situation still needs to be monitored”, je added, although for the time being there is no risk of further flooding.

The known death toll from the torrential rains and flooding of the current rainy season is 117, according to the latest statistics released last week by Mozambique’s relief agency, the National Disaster Management Institute (INGC).The INGC put the number of people affected by the flooding at 246,966.

The Council of Ministers also approved a decree on new statutes for the Legal Aid Institute (IPAJ), which seek to make its structure more adequate to its task of ensuring that citizens are not deprived of legal merely because they do not have the money to pay for a lawyer.