They claim that they were accused of building their homes on water lines, which is why they saw them demolished by the hands of the Dande municipal administration, which, in November 2023, relocated them to the 25 de Outubro neighborhood, opposite the headquarters of the commune of Mabubas, where they consider themselves far from daily sustenance
The inhabitants of the Bukula neighborhood, Dande municipality, in Caxito, Bengo province, relocated to the 25 de Outubro area, Mabubas commune, complain of having lost the ability to support themselves and their children’s education.
“We can’t say that we had everything and that life was going wonderfully, but since they brought us here in November last year, hunger has increased, we don’t have water and the children have had to give up school”, said Maria Dombele. Unlike the other residents of Dande relocated in the same area, the former residents of Bukula were not transferred because of the floods caused by the floods of the 14th and 15th of February last, but because they built in areas considered at risk.
Maria Dombele, who had lived in Bukula for six years, said that, when they parked there, they were only given two sheets of zinc, to build huts where they could house their family. “We had to find other resources, including what remained of our demolished houses, to have a shack here, because everything was done under pressure.
Our children are not studying because of the distance that separates the school where they studied from our current hut”. The children’s alternative should be the bus, but the lady claims that she doesn’t even have money to feed the six children with whom she is parked at Mabubas.
Antonica Dombele Gomes, her 17-year-old daughter, is very saddened by the forced withdrawal to which this situation has subjected her. The girl attended 8th grade. She said that, in November and December last year, she still made an effort to go to school by bus, paying with the help of some colleagues and making use of the understanding of the drivers and conductors, but then the situation became unsustainable.
“I only managed to save the first quarter and I’m about to lose the second”, considered the former student from one of the secondary schools close to the old habitat. Antonica’s teachers are aware of the current difficulties their student is going through and have tried to do something, according to the teenagers, who, before the end of the second quarter, believe in help coming from those who are considered, at school, as the second parents. In the worst situation are Antonica’s sisters, Mena, 12, Lena, 10, and Margarida Kalenguluca, six, who expressed their desire to return to study in the new area.
Widow Maria Dombele says that the people in her area, in the resettlement, do not receive any donations, as do those in Kawanga, housed on the opposite side. Maria Dombele’s other neighbors, who preferred to speak anonymously, are also concerned about the operation of a medical center to deal with certain health situations for pregnant women. “Where they put us, we are capable of contracting any disease at any time, because we become vulnerable. So, the nurses and the post they promised must work now.
Administration guarantees classes for children
In defense of the Dande Municipal Administration, deputy administrator Ambrósio Mamata said that the municipal authorities were aware of the responsibilities that would come after the eviction, having prepared themselves for possible amendments. He assured that children who attended primary school classes will be able to continue their studies in two rooms that will be adapted at the relocation center in the 25 de Outubro neighborhood. “And, because we work with the municipal education department, we already have teachers sent to provide classes, in these rooms, in two shifts.
But teenagers who attend secondary school classes will be sent to the school of the same level, located in the headquarters of the Mabubas commune. According to the deputy administrator, a medical station was also installed at the site to treat health problems. What Ambrósio Mamata did not guarantee was a food assistance program, but he did mention the entry into the scene of some companies and civil society and party organizations that, at the request of the administration or on their own initiative, are donating some food products, household utensils and work instruments.
Finally, the administrator clarified that the people of Bukula were relocated to the 25 de Outubro neighborhood, for having insistently built on the water lines. “So that today we would not have this community on the account of those affected by the rains, we removed them from there in November last year”, explained the leader, having informed that the inhabitants of areas that had blockages, ditches or conduct of this kind.