By MOFFAT CHAZINGWA-
THE Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) has assured that it is capable of handling all the households affected by the Kitwe City Council (KCC) operation to demolish houses built on illegally acquired plots in Mindolo-North.
DMMU national coordinator, Patrick Kangwa said the institution was prepared to relocate all the affected Mindolo-North families to the newly setup transit camp located within the Helen Kaunda School grounds near Kitwe Central Hospital.
Mr Kangwa, who was giving an update on the coming on board of the DMMU to provide humanitarian assistance to the homeless Mindolo-North residents, said the unit had by Saturday almost completed creating the transit camp for the affected residents.
“We should by today (Sunday) start relocating the homeless families to the transit camp but one thing you ought to know is that what we are offering is humanitarian assistance which will not be forced on anyone,” Mr Kangwa said.
He said as such, the DMMU would not compel the families who had out-rightly rejected being relocated to the transit camp to move.
Mr Kangwa said what the DMMU had erected in the meantime was just a first set of tents and depending on the response by the affected residents, more tents would be put up.
He dismissed claims by some sections of society that DMMU was only allowing three people from the affected households to relocate to the established transit camp stressing that all family members were being accommodated.
Mr Kangwa however said the humanitarian assistance being offered by the DMMU should not in any way be viewed as a support to illegality.