Following the recent floods in the capital city, Lilongwe City Council (LCC) Chief Executive Officer John Chome has announced that says it will demolish all illegal constructions to prevent further loss of life and property.
The above was revealed Vice-President Everton Chimulirenji toured some of the affected areas in Lilongwe’s Area 22 where he also distributed relief items to over 1500 flood victims. Chome revealed that the council is conducting a mapping of all flood zones. “We know that most of the affected houses are those that were constructed without our approval or in some cases, plots were allocated in the wrong places. We will revoke permits for such. After the mapping, we will demolish all illegal structures.”
However, the development is not news, as the council planned to do the same in In 2017. Over 1000 demolition notices were released but failed to enforce them due to what LCC called community resistance and political interference.
On the other hand, the Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services (MET) has warned of heavy rains this week that will trigger floods in low-lying and flood-prone areas.