Africa-Press – Angola. At least one of the 11 ravines in an emergency state for the stagnation in the province of Lunda-Sul will begin to be intervened in the next few days, assured, Sunday, the Minister of Construction, Urbanism and Housing, Carlos dos Santos, who, together with Governor Daniel Neto , witnessed the consignment of the works.
The ravine is located in the Nhama neighborhood, on the outskirts of the city, and is about two thousand meters long and 15 meters deep. The director of the sector in the province, Félix Manassa, said that it was an “imminent danger, because it threatens to destroy the Thermoelectric Power Station, the Sonangol Storage Centre, a 14-room school, the future Saurimo Centrality, the Deolinda Rodrigues Airport and the National Road 180, which connects Saurimo to the city of Luena, in Moxico.
Contract terms point to 19 months and the value of the work is over one and a half billion kwanzas. The minister advanced that, despite only talking about the Nhama ravine, this action marks the opening of works to stop four others, in this first phase, namely, in the Candembe, Camahundu and Luavur neighborhoods, of a process that covers 11 in state emergency in the host municipality.
Work of the kind, according to the minister, will also be carried out within the municipalities of Cacolo, Dala and Muconda, according to the process of a program approved by the President of the Republic, to intervene a total of 742 ravines at country level, 54 of which in the province of Lunda-Sul.
This act, he added, aims to “resolve, once and for all, the serious problem that endangers imposing public-private infrastructures and the lives of those who live here”. A value in the order of 15 billion kwanzas is made available by the Ministry of Finance.
Regarding the state of the National Road EN 230, which connects Saurimo/Malanje, the minister, after touring the region by land, expressed relief, as a result of the work in progress. Some concern of the official in relation to the works is related to the critical section of the river Lui to Xamuteba, in Lunda-Norte: “But it is already possible to have circulation in reasonable conditions on the road. if the end of the undertaking”.
On 180, the road that connects Saurimo to the municipality of Dala, work continues as normal, despite the constraints caused by the recurring rains. For this work, the minister did not give guarantees about the date of completion of the contract.
Provincial governor Daniel Neto, when taking the floor to reassure residents of that neighborhood who saw a large number of families leave the area due to the level of insecurity, especially when it rains, said that the work provides job opportunities for young people in the affected area.
In addition to the process of stanching the Nhama ravine, he stressed that, soon, the intervention project of 10 kilometers of access roads will start in the neighborhood to guarantee greater dignity to the area, where important social services in the province are installed.
The contract’s consignment document was signed by representatives of the Executive, Carlos da Rocha, and of the company Sete Cunhas, António Cunhas.
For the coordinator of the Nhama neighborhood, Adão Simão, it is a relief and satisfaction for the more than four thousand residents, previously insecure due to the progressive speed of the ravine, which jeopardizes the destruction of various social services, mainly energy and the school.
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