Africa-Press – Angola. Work on the Cova do Leão dam, in the municipality of Cahama, as part of structuring projects to combat the effects of drought on the right bank of the Cunene River, begins in June.
The dam will have a useful volume estimated at 25.2 million cubic meters, 17 meters high, four meters wide at the crest and 844 meters long, to supply the municipalities of Cahama and Curoca.
According to Angop, which cites Carolino Nunes, the director-general of the Office for the Administration of the Cunene, Cubango and Cuvelai River Basins (GABHIC), the project will allow for 9,216 household connections, type A, 7,780 connections of type B. and 250 fountains with four taps, in the municipalities of Cahama, Otchinjau (Cahama), Oncocua and Chitado (Curoca).
The implementation will be projected in a dimension to benefit 241, 232 people, until 2041, 30 thousand heads of cattle and agricultural activities.
Drought and hunger affected 77,343 people in the municipality of Cahama and 43,000 in Curoca.
Carolino Nunes, who was speaking during a consultation meeting on structuring projects to combat the effects of the drought, said that the phase of environmental impact studies and other administrative issues will be completed for the start of the works, in this first semester.
He explained that there will be a solution for each commune. In the case of Cahama and Otchindjau, the water comes from the Cova do Leão dam, where a catchment and adduction will be built for supply, and from Chitado, as it is a riverside commune, part of the Cunene River.
“In Oncócua, we are going to rehabilitate the system of 13 holes and nine existing dams, to provide more water security to the population, not only from the point of view of supplying drinking water, but also for livestock and the practice of subsistence agriculture” , he said.
Carolino Nunes said that, after a detailed study, in this emergency package, Otchandi and Monte Negro, where it was planned to draw water to supply these localities, are left out for now, and projects can be implemented in the future.
The governor of Cunene, Gerdina Didalelwa, expressed her satisfaction with the conclusion found in this second consultation meeting, after the second held in December 2021, in Curoca.
He referred that the meetings were a good exercise as they allowed the collection of several valuable contributions for the beginning of the works this year, in order to satisfy the water needs of the populations, the cattle and the practice of family agriculture.
Gerdina Didalelwa informed that the municipalities of Cahama and Curoca are going through difficult situations due to the drought, which causes the displacement of populations to other areas, and drawing water in Cova do Leão, in this emergency phase, is encouraging.
The governor acknowledged that these are projects with high costs, but the Executive had the courage to define them in the province, in order to end the effects of the drought, due to the lack of regular rains in recent years in the region.
Other projects
As part of the structuring projects to combat drought in Cunene, construction has been under way for almost a year and is expected to be completed in March, the Catchment System on the Cunene River, from the Cafu region.
Two channels are also under construction, one from Cuamato to Ndombondola, with a length of 55 kilometers, and another from Cuamato to Namacunde, with around 53, in addition to 30 chimpacas. In progress, since October 2021, is the construction of the Calucuve and Ndué dams, in the municipalities of Cuvelai and Cuanhama, two structural projects to combat drought in the region.
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