Africa-Press – Angola. The works to stop the most critical ravines in the province of Luanda will start shortly, after all the technical and financial conditions for the respective works have already been met, said this Monday, in this city, the Minister of Public Works, Urbanism and Housing, Carlos Alberto dos Santos.
Specifically, these are the ravines in the center of Zango 5 and the Caop C neighborhood (Viana), as well as those in the Boa Esperança neighborhood (Cacuaco) and Honga (Talatona), which put the lives of hundreds of residents at risk and threaten to the destruction of public infrastructure.
Additionally, the list of the most critical points in the capital of the country also includes erosion processes on the access road to the Specialized Center for the Treatment of Endemics and Pandemics (CETEP), in Calumbo (Viana), and on Estrada Nacional 100 (Boa Esperança neighborhood – Cacuaco).
“We have created all the technical and financial conditions to start work on the aforementioned ravines, all that is missing is the preparation of the administrative processes by the municipal administrations, which should resolve this situation in less time”, guaranteed Carlos Alberto dos Santos.
Speaking to the press, at the end of a field trip to the respective works, the minister stated that the assignment of these ravines will be done as soon as the administrative issue is concluded.
On the occasion, he recalled that stopping these erosions is part of the Emergency Program for Containment of Ravines, approved two months ago by the President of the Republic, João Lourenço.
This programme, he continued, includes the containment of 742 active ravines nationwide, with a budget of around 96 billion kwanzas, to be made available in a phased manner.
According to the minister, the program also defines that each municipal administration or provincial government indicates the most critical gullies on a quarterly basis.
Status of ravines in municipalities
Of the nine municipalities that make up the province of Luanda, Viana stands out for having registered 13 ravines, in addition to other water lines, which can also develop into ravines.
According to the municipal administrator of Viana, Demétrio de Sepúlveda, of this total of ravines, the most worrying are those of Zango 5, which extends to the commune of Calumbo, which registers four large ones, as well as that of the Caop C neighborhood, where hundreds of houses and two high voltage posts are at risk of being “swallowed by the ravine”.
Despite some palliative interventions, the director recognized the progression of erosion, especially in rainy weather.
As for the approval of the budget for the intervention of the ravine in the centrality of Zango 5, in 2021, the Minister of Public Works, Urbanism and Housing, Carlos Alberto dos Santos, referred that the sector is in dialogue with the contractor company to assess the real reasons for the “non-compliance with the contract”.
Currently, erosion levels are more advanced, compared to the previous period, a fact that will require the recharacterization of the project.
“The law is very clear for contractors who do not honor their commitments. Therefore, we only have to comply with the law, after there is an initialed contract that must be fulfilled”, he said.
According to the sign/pamphlet, which is still located at one of the points of the ravine of Zango 5, the start of this contract was scheduled for April 2021, within a period of six months, but so far almost nothing has been done to stop it. this erosion.
The work, budgeted at 1.3 billion kwanzas, was carried out by the company “China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC), while inspection was carried out by the company Anprofis, Lda.
On the other hand, the ravine in the Honga neighborhood, in Talatona, is a ditch that has lost its profile, the result of various “forced” constructions that have sprung up around it, according to the municipal administrator, Rui Duarte.
In this locality, close to 85 homes at risk are registered, whose backyard fences are practically damaged.
About a kilometer long, the large-scale erosion starts in the Patriota neighborhood and flows into the Cambamba river.
Contrary to the critical state of the ravines in the municipalities of Viana and Talatona, the ravine on the slopes of the Boa Esperança neighborhood (Cacuaco) began to be intervened 12 days ago, with an execution period of eight months.
In this neighborhood, 21 families were relocated in 2021, due to the acceleration of ravines.
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