Blantyre City Council (BCC) fathers have warned land and property owners against complacency in refurbishing their business structures that were earmarked for demolition through the Red Star Campaign in 2015.
The campaign was halted in its tracks after 54 Limbe and Blantyre-based land and property owners obtained a court injunction that restrained BCC from demolishing such targeted buildings.
The campaign was launched by President Peter Mutharika in 2015 with a clear target of removing all substandard and outdated buildings from where business operators conduct private and public businesses.
Blantyre City Mayor Wild Ndipo told The Daily Times at a recent tree planting exercise in Nyambadwe that they are waiting patiently for the court injunction to be lifted so that the demolition starts to make the city clean and beautiful.
“The Red Star Campaign has earmarked 161 buildings for demolition in the central business districts of Limbe and Blantyre,” he said.
Ndipo added that they want to see property owners refurbish or build new standard business complexes in Limbe and Blantyre.
“The exercise would see some buildings demolished completely and while others renovated to make the city beautiful and meet international standards,” said Ndipo.
He said having good roads is not enough considering that beautiful buildings are supposed to be in tandem with good roads.
“We are still advancing the campaign although we have delayed. Property owners should not think the campaign is not effective. We are working hard to have the injunction lifted,” he said.
Last year, BCC Public Relations Manager, Anthony Kasunda, told the local media that the council was still working on challenging the restraining order.
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