Hulene tragedy: Government promises to complete houses this year

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Hulene tragedy: Government promises to complete houses this year

1:36 CAT | 04 Jun 2020

File photo: DW

Families removed from the vicinity of the Hulene rubbish dump, where 16 people died in the February 2018 collapse, are still awaiting relocation. The government says their houses will be completed by the end of the year.

The Mozambican government has pledged to complete, this year, the construction of houses for families removed from the vicinity of the Hulene dump, where 16 people died when the dump collapsed in February 2018.

“We believe the houses will be completed in 2020,” cabinet spokesperson Filimão Suaze said after the Council of Ministers meeting in Maputo on Tuesday.

The first phase of relocation was scheduled for late 2018, but the government extended the deadline to mid-2019. People are still waiting today, however.

In total, 269 families were relocated away from the dump after the disaster, and now live in rented houses paid for by the government while awaiting resettlement.

Overdue rentals generate protest

On Tuesday morning (02/06), some of the families affected were at Maputo Municipal Council protesting about the two-month delay in disbursing subsidies for rent, which led the Council of Ministers to approve an “extraordinary transfer” to resolve the situation.

“The disbursement aims to ensure the payment of rent while houses in the resettlement area are completed,” Filimão Suaze announced, without however detailing exact figures.

Each family receives 30,000 meticais (€387) on a quarterly basis for rent.

In the early hours of February 19, 2018, part of the Hulene rubbish dump, the capital’s largest and some three stories high, collapsed on shacks in the vicinity after heavy rain. Sixteen people died at the scene, seven of them children.

The same year (2018), the Mozambican government announced that the dump would be closed, at the cost of US$110 million (€98 million at current exchange rates).

Source: Deutsche Welle