Mozambique: Thinking differently is good but violence must be avoided - president
Nyusi urges evacuated families not to return to Hulene
10:18 CAT | 23 Feb 2018
“I am happy that you are aware you should not go back there”, Nyusi said “I’m asking you to tell those who do want to return to change their minds. Show them the risks this could involve.”. Photos: Facebook
Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Friday warned families affected by last Monday’s collapse of the main Maputo rubbish dump, and currently living in an accommodation centre set up by Maputo Municipal Council, not to attempt to return to the area of the dump.
Under the pressure of torrential rain, hundreds, if not thousands, of tonnes of rubbish collapsed onto seven houses before dawn on Monday, killing 18 people. Some of the families affected had been resettled before but had returned to the area of the dump, in the neighbourhood of Hulene.
Closing the Hulene dump was a promise made by Mayor David Simango in his successful re-election campaign in 2013. Five years later the dump is still open, and there is no sign of the promised modern landfill in the neighbouring city of Matola that will accommodate garbage from both Maputo and Matola.
In the wake of Monday’s disaster, municipal officials say that houses built dangerously close to the dump will now be demolished. About 160 families from Hulene have been moved to the temporary accommodation centre in Ferroviario neighbourhood.
Nyusi visited Hulene, Ferroviario and also Bobole, in Marracuene district, about 20 kilometres from the city, which is a possible resettlement area for some of the families affected by the disaster.
Addressing the families in Ferroviario, Nyusi said they should not return to the vicinity of the Hulene dump “because you will be risking your lives. As you know, that place is not fit for human habitation”.
Nyusi was satisfied to find that the families apparently accepted his appeal. “I am happy that you are aware you should not go back there”, he said “I’m asking you to tell those who do want to return to change their minds. Show them the risks this could involve.”.
The President told reporters he had decided to see for himself the situation of the families evacuated from Hulene, and how the government and the Maputo municipality are providing them with assistance.
“I lament the situation our fellow citizens are going through”, he said. “Today I preferred to leave my office and continue to follow, on the ground, what I have already seen through the press. The rubbish dump is there, it betrayed them, the families are in mourning – but many people are still living there”.
He had heard few complaints from the families at the Ferroviario centre, which showed that the government and the municipality were complying with their task of providing assistance. But much more needed to be done, even before the families were definitively resettled.
“We need schools, health centres, markets”, he declared. “But we are in no way saying that these are the definitive areas for resettlement. We are still looking for space”.
The Minister of Land, Environment and Rural Development, Celso Correia, said that over 200 families have been resettled from Hulene, but a further 300 still require definitive homes.
“Since 2015, we have been accompanying the work done to resettle the families living on the outskirts of the dump, and to close the dump”, he said. “There needs to be investment in order to close the dump. We shall have this matter concluded this year. We want it to happen as soon as possible”
Source: AIM
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