Kuphanga has disclosed on Thursday that the council has identified land near Khongono village and reported to the Department of Disaster and Management Affairs (DoDMA) for the resources to compensate the land owners before commencing relocation exercise.

"The assessments on available land near Khongono village was made and land was identified. The district council sent reports to DoDMA and are looking for resources to compensate the land owners before relocating the households to upland," Kuphanga said.

He has however cautioned the locals in the district against returning to the disaster-prone areas to prevent loss of lives and livelihoods.

"It's really important to look after safety of our lives and property by preventing any chances of placing ourselves in hazardous areas. Moving to high grounds before the rainfall season will prevent a lot of property and life loss," he cautioned.

In July this year, the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) in its Impact of the Cyclone Freddy on Gender Based Violence (GBV) and Exploitation on Women and Children report, recommended the district council to find upland space before rains for the villagers after the cyclone turned their area into a river.

Meanwhile, DoDMA spokesperson, Chipiliro Khamula has asked for more time to consult.

Apart from destroying public infrastructure, washing away crops, the cyclone also displaced over 4, 000 households and killed 16 people in the district.