Mozambique: Prime Minister visits flood victims

Prime Minister Aires Aly on 29 January visited some of the Maputo neighbourhoods worst affected by the torrential rains that hit the capital on 27 January.

These neighbourhoods, such as Inhagoia, Laulane and Mahotas, are regularly swamped in the rainy season. From one day to the next, families are driven out of their homes, and are forced to sleep in the open, or in the homes of relatives or friends, or in schools or churches.

Speaking to 18 families in this situation in Inhagoia, Aly transmitted a message of solidarity from President Armando Guebuza, and praised them for leaving high-risk areas of their own accord rather than waiting for government help. He thought this speedy reaction had prevented any deaths in Inhagoia.

He assured them that the Maputo City Council would continue providing them with basic support, while definitive solutions are sought so that the same problem does not recur every rainy season.

This would involve resettlement, and Aly urged the families not to attempt to return to their old homes. "The rains have been affecting you for years, and this is no place for you to live", he stressed.