Dodma supports Mzuzu flood survivors

 The Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) has donated relief items to 512 households affected by heavy rains in Mzuzu.

Speaking on Wednesday during the handover, Dodma director of preparedness and response Moses Chimphepo said the items were meant to lessen the people’s suffering.

However, he asked people to relocate to safe areas, saying most people who have been affected by floods built their houses in high-risk areas.

Said Chimphepo: “We have noted that some people are deliberately building along river banks. Our plea to them is to relocate from such areas and build resilient houses in safe areas.

“As Dodma, we facilitate the process of acquiring land for flood survivors as we recently did in Chikwawa

 District. However, people should be in the forefront to take precautionary measures to protect their lives and property.”

Mzuzu City Council chief executive officer Gomezgani Nyasulu said the council will continue to encourage people to follow recommended building standards set by the council.

“More than 500 households have been affected in almost all wards within the city. As a council, we have building guidelines and for those who deliberately go against our guidelines, we are at liberty to demolish such buildings,” he said.

One of the survivors, Dorothy Mziya from Chibavi East Ward, whose house was destroyed by heavy rains, thanked Dodma for the donation.

“It will not be easy to relocate as I built my house on my personal plot,” she said