The government revealed that it will transfer about 3,000 people living in the historic Ilha de Moçambique to the mainland as part of the reconstruction plan for the island, affected in March by Cyclone Gombe.

This is a group of people who live in the Mecuti neighborhood and in conditions described as vulnerable, according to Momade Ali, district administrator of Mozambique Island, quoted by the newspaper Notícias.

"A survey was conducted by the authorities and it was found that there are households with more than 15 people sharing the same space, and most of them do not have space to build latrines and end up resorting to the beaches," reads the newspaper Notícias, quoting Momade Ali.

The source clarified that the space that will house these people on the mainland has already been chosen, as part of the reconstruction plan designed by the government after the passage of Gombe.

Cyclone Gombe, which hit the central and northern parts of the country in March, killed more than 60 people and totally and partially destroyed 95,500 homes, as well as damaging 69 hospital units, 129 roads and 2,748 power poles.

Gombe hit the national territory three years after cyclones Idai and Kenneth battered, respectively, the central and northern regions of the country in what was one of the most severe rainy seasons in recent memory.

Ilha de Moçambique, in Nampula province, was Mozambique's first capital, and several historical monuments, such as the Fortress of São Sebastião, remain standing.

In 1991, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) considered Mozambique Island a World Heritage Site.