By Linda Kwanjana

Malawi leader President Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera on Friday (20th October, 2023) through Commissioner for Disaster Management Affairs Charles Kalemba and officials from Nsanje District Council handed over a newly constructed evacuation centre to communities in Mchacha James Village, TA Mlolo.

The President, while visiting people affected by Tropical Cyclone Freddy (TCF), promised some additional reforms towards people affected by the natural disasters.

Kalemba called upon the communities to take good care of the K367 million worth facility and fully utilize it in implementing small scale disaster risk management programmes.

In her remarks, Acting Senior Chief Mlolo said for a long time, communities in flood prone areas have been having challenges in accessing shelter when floods wreak havoc.

In the meantime, the centre has been earmarked for use (as classroom and administration blocks) by Makhanga Community Day Secondary School following ongoing relocation exercise of over 5,000 households from the flood-prone Makhanga area to upper and safer places in TA Mlolo.

Constructed with funding from the African Development Bank under the Post Cyclone Idai Emergency Recovery and Resilience Project (PCIREP), the centre will ease pressure on education facilities as most displaced communities in the surrounding areas seek refuge in educational facilities (mostly in primary schools) during emergencies.

Among others, PCIREP aims at restoring and improving sustainable livelihoods, enhance disaster risk reduction and early warning preparedness, support inclusive socio-economic recovery empowerment and enhance post recovery adaptive capacity for people who were affected by Cyclone Idai.