Mzuzu City residents continue to refuse to relocate from disaster-prone areas despite efforts by the Mzuzu City Council (MCC), Malawi24 has learnt.
According to MCC spokesperson Karen Msiska, the residents do not want to move from the Nkhata Bay side of the city to the Mzimba side of the city as they believe the disaster-prone areas are where they belong.
The council wants the residents to move from areas such as Masasa and parts of Ching’ambo to an area near Lusangazi along the M1 road.
MCC has since asked the people to understand the dangers of living in disaster-prone areas and consider the challenges they might face if they refuse to move to the identified places.
“We will keep encouraging them to reconsider their stance,” he said.
In April 2016, heavy rainfall in parts of Mzuzu led to floods and landslides that damaged houses and killed seven people.
Msiska said the residents dug the hillsides to create space on which to build their houses and the hillsides which they dug led to mudslides when rain came, causing the disasters.
He said if the residents move to the new plots, they can adapt by building houses that can stand disasters such as flooding.
