Maputo — Mozambican President Daniel Chapo on Wednesday announced that his government has identified, in Maputo province, safe regions on high ground to accommodate households affected by the floods that have engulfed much of southern and central Mozambique.
The identified regions will benefit the victims from Maputo province, in an initiative aimed at minimizing risks and guaranteeing basic services to resettled communities.
According to Chapo, who was speaking during a working visit to the victims sheltered at accommodation centres in Manhiça and Marracuene districts, the government is already in talks with local authorities to facilitate the allocation of land to those households affected by floods.
"We are talking to our administrator, our Secretary of State, our mayor, all the local authorities of Manhiça to find new areas that are not flooded, so we can divide up land and give it to the population', he said.
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The President promised that the government will implement basic services on the new land, including "schools, hospitals, commercial services, electricity and water networks and roads.'
Chapo also called on the beneficiaries to use the land properly, avoiding selling or transferring the plots, so as not to return to the low-lying flood zones.
"Those who have money will appear and start to entice you, they say they will buy your land, and in the end, you return to the low-lying areas. We want to ask you not to do that', he said.
The President also guaranteed that teams are being set up to issue new documents for those who lost their identity documents in the floods. "One of the most important things they lost are documents, and we came here to assure you that we will create teams that will issue documents for our children and for all of you, so that we can recover our documents', he said,
Nearly 36,000 people have been affected by the floods, and approximately 64,000 hectares of agricultural land have been lost in the last 20 days in Maputo province.
