In recent days, people in various neighborhoods in Maputo and Matola have taken over idle spaces for housing purposes, and in order to curb this phenomenon, the Matola City Council has decided to go ahead with a campaign to map idle spaces.

The neighborhoods of Tsalala, Matola-Gare, Mathlemele, Machava-sede, Siduava and part of the municipal village of Matola-Rio, have been the neighborhoods where people occupy the most space.

The councillor for Territorial Planning, Aurélio Salomão, said, as quoted by Noticias, that there were reports of plot holders being threatened by a group of Matola residents.

"We are carrying out a plan to legally subdivide land in the Muhalazi and Ngolhoza neighborhoods. That's why we must denounce the demarcation and occupation of urban land without documentary procedures," he said.

Salomão said that in the event of construction in unauthorized spaces, the work will be immediately embargoed and demolished, in order to carry out the territorial reordering of the spaces acquired clandestinely by the residents.

"We're going to focus on redevelopment, urban planning and the territorial reorganization of idle land," he said at a press conference.

In the city of Maputo, where irregular land occupation is also taking place, the councillor for Planning, Territorial Planning and the Environment, Idálio Juvane, said that private properties in the Albazine and Chiango neighborhoods had been invaded since last week.

"We call on residents to report acts of land invasion to the local administrative structures and we urge the owners of these plots to occupy them in accordance with municipal regulations," he urged.

In the meantime, the phenomenon is becoming a recurring practice among people in a society where housing has been a major problem, especially for young people.

Today in the George Dimitrov neighborhood, also known as Benfica, in Maputo City, people invaded a space that is reserved for Mozambique Airports. They claim that it has been abandoned for a long time and that it serves as a "stage" for all kinds of crimes.

Image DR