By ETAMBUYU SANG’ANDU –

THE Disaster Management Mitigating Unit (DMMU) has urged local authorities not to allow illegal land allocation in the country.
DMMU National coordinator Patrick Kangwa said councils and other stakeholders should ensure that the construction of houses and other structures was done in a proper manner and in designated areas.
Mr Kangwa was speaking when he paid a courtesy call on Kitwe District Commissioner Elias Kamanga yesterday before visiting the displaced Mindolo North residents accommodated at Hellen Kaunda school grounds.
The Mindolo North residents were displaced after the Kitwe City Council (KCC) demolished their houses for allegedly building them on illegally obtained land, which belonged to Phoenix materials.
Mr Kangwa said lessons should be learnt from the Mindolo North incident and avoid illegal land allocation.
“The efforts made could have been used much earlier before the structures were developed,” he said.
Mr Kangwa said each sector should know their task and must take their responsibility in ensuring that people construct on designated land.
He further appealed to the media to be proactive and expose such incidences as it was the main tool in correcting such illegal acts.
Mr Kamanga said there was need to place security measures at Hellen Kaunda Secondary School grounds where the Mindolo North residents were accommodated.
He said the area was an open space and therefore required security.