Mozambique: Guijá prison transfers all inmates to Macia due to flood risk – report

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Mozambique: Guijá prison transfers all inmates to Macia due to flood risk – report

10:05 CAT | 16 Feb 2021

Photo: ICS-Instituto de Comunicação Social-Sede

About 150 inmates from the Guijá penitentiary in southern Mozambique have been moved to Macia penitentiary, also in Gaza province, due to the risk of flooding in the region, officials there have announced.

The transfer took place last week and aimed to “guarantee the dignity” of the prisoners, provincial director of Justice Manuel Machanguane said, cited on Monday by daily newspaper Noticias.

The cause is the rise in the level the Limpopo River, which has posted flows above alert levels for more than three weeks and has already flooded 24,000 hectares of agricultural and residential land, destroying infrastructure in several districts.

At the same time, Guijá prison has been dealing with an outbreak of Covid-19 affecting three prisoners and four guards – a total of seven cases, of which six are recovered and one remains active and under medical supervision.

“We are strictly complying with preventive measures,” Machanguane added.

Mozambique is in the middle of its rainy season, which occurs between October and April, with winds coming from the Indian Ocean and floods originating in the hydrographic basins of Southern Africa.

Thousands of people have already been affected by bad weather this year.

Most serious were storm Chalane, at the end of last year, and Cyclone Eloise, in January, with an official tally of 19 dead, although reports by local authorities point to double that figure.