The High Court in Lilongwe this week adjourned to November 21 2018 mediation talks in the Area 18 water contamination case.
A notice of adjournment for mediation, dated October 18, says Justice Ivy Kamanga will mediate the matter.
This follows the u-turn of Lilongwe City Council (LCC), the first defendant, which decided against continuing with the mediation after it earlier collapsed.
Chance Mwalubunju, Executive Director for Lawyers Forum for Human Rights, who is representing the victims, said LCC stood its ground despite that other institutions, Malawi Housing Corporation (MHC) and Lilongwe Water Board (LWB) opted for a full trial.
“The Council stood its grounds so we could not proceed with the next step but conform to their demands,” he said as Quoted in the Daily Times.
Earlier, the institutions agreed to enter the case into a full trial after other defendants continued to deny liability, despite admitting the incident.
At least 1,300 people want compensation of MK4 million each from the institutions for drinking sewer-contaminated water in July 2017.