Cabo Delgado: Rainy season likely to aggravate situation of IDPs

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Cabo Delgado: Rainy season likely to aggravate situation of IDPs

3:39 CAT | 26 Nov 2020

Photo: DW

Cabo Delgado province is prone to extreme weather events in the rainy season, and authorities are working to ensure that the effects are not disastrous for the large number of families displaced by terrorist attacks there.

“The first thing we did was to interact with our partners to acquire more tents,” explained Valige Tauabo, governor of Cabo Delgado province.

The goal, he adds, is to redirect the population “from places where they are now, where there may be some risk, to safer areas with these new tents. The tents will serve to mitigate any situations which may exist. We are supported by various institutions”, Governor Tauabo explained.

Cdvt1 — **Displaced people receive government assistance**

Welcoming displaced people

Speaking in Mecufi last weekend at the end of a visit there and to Metuge and Ancuabe, the governor of Cabo Delgado asked the local population in resettlement areas to treat those displaced with respect.

“We would not like to hear that here in Napuilimuite our brothers who arrived are being expelled by the natives. We have to be united, because these families have come from very far away with their children carried in their laps. They went through a lot of suffering and are here with you looking for peace of mind. Welcome them very well,” he urged.

During the visits, the government offered food and hygiene products to alleviate the hardship suffered by families.

Buana Ncunha, one of the IDPs in Napuilimuite village, Mecufi district, praised the authorities, saying: “I was well received here in this village, and our relationship with the owners [of the land] has been good. I am grateful for the food that the government is handing out.”

“I have already received land here in Napuilimuite and I am getting ready to build my house. But I continue to ask the government to fight the bandits, to see if we can get back to our own lands,” she adds.

Moving away from flood-prone areas

During his tour of the districts, the governor of Cabo Delgado instructed the Risk Management Committees to redouble communications urging the early evacuation of flood-prone areas.

“We have to remove some populations who are in risk areas right now. We don’t wait for a problem to happen first and then clean up the damage,” he explained.

“We must advise our people who are in risk areas to leave and tell them the area where they can stay, even if only temporarily, but where they can build somewhere to live. This is the responsibility of the Risk Management Committee. The committee is to prevent and not to remedy,” he explained.

The province of Cabo Delgado was devastated by tropical cyclone Kenneth, which hit the north of the country in early 2019. More destruction occurred late last year and in early 2020, with, for example, the collapse of the bridge over the Montepuez River cutting the road connection with northern districts of the province.

Source: Deutsche Welle