District councils have been urged to enforce proper housing and construction planning as well as guidelines stipulated in the Physical and Planning Act of 2016 for the country’s sustainable development.
Commissioner of Physical Planning in the Ministry of Lands, Robins Lukasi, said this in Salima during the launch of the development of district spatial plans under the World Bank’s Regional Climate Resilience Programme.
Lukasi said building resilient homes and avoiding settling in flood-prone areas is the sure way to avert the impact of natural disasters.
Deputy Coordinator for the programme, Flemmings Nyirenda, said spatial plans, among others, seek to improve resilience to water-related climate shocks in times of crisis, and disaster risk management and are responsible for decision-making in the long term.
Nyirenda added that all these can help Malawi achieve sustainable development in 2063.
The five year programme is targeting all districts up to 2028.
In the meantime, it is targeting seven districts such as Balaka, Phalombe, Salima Nkhotakota and Karonga but next year it will scale up its interventions in all councils.
