It has been almost 2 years since 12 families were relocated in March 2023, to the headquarters of the Mepoche locality, in the Lunho Administrative Post, in the Lago district, in Niassa province in northern of Mozambique, after the floods destroyed their homes in that area. The families are complaining about the poor basic living conditions.
The 12 families are living in precarious conditions: without
toilets and drinking water, which forces them to travel long distances to
access the precious liquid, with some families lacking enough food.
The relocated families complain that they were instructed to
cut stakes, with the promise that the district government would provide the
other materials needed to build their houses. They fulfilled their task, but
nothing was done on the government's part. The stakes ended up rotting in the
bush.
"Next month will mark 2 years since we were relocated
here. The government told us to cut wood with the promise that they would bring
construction materials. We complied, but the government did nothing, and the
wood rotted in the bush," said one of the victims.
As if that wasn't enough, they were again promised support
to build their houses, this time being instructed to make 90,000 fired bricks,
with the government promising to provide the rest of the materials. However,
there was still no support from the government, even with the bricks already
made by the relocated families. In this regard, they are asking the relevant
authorities for clarification.
"The government promised us that by June of that year,
our houses would be built. We were told to cut stakes and spent 2 months
cutting them. When we finished, we asked for a car to transport them, but the
government started to show difficulties. Then, we were called to the
administrative post, where the head of the post told us to make bricks, and we
made 96,000. We want clarification," explained Alifa Abdala and Sara
Rajabo, some of the relocated individuals.
Graça Sitia, the head of the Mepoche locality, acknowledges
the concerns of the relocated families and says that the delay is due to the
floods in other areas of the district, which have also been hit by floods.
However, she assures that the plan will be implemented soon.
"Initially, the government was supposed to help with
stakes for building the houses, but then, when we sat down again, we saw that
it shouldn't be with stakes, so we instructed them to make bricks. With the
difficulties we face, there are floods every year, and we haven't managed yet,
but soon the houses will be built," said the local leader. (Davide Muianga)
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