Africa-Press – Angola. The Program to Combat the Effects of Drought in Southern Angola (PCESSA) is coming to an end, assured this Friday the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, at the end of his visit to the Calucuve dam works in Angola province. Cunene.
“Should I keep my bet on combating drought? it is evident that yes”, said the Head of State, adding that the Executive did not show “signs of weakness much less retreat” regarding the execution of the Program that aims to face the constraints caused by the drought in the region.
The PCESSA is focused on the provinces of Cunene, Namibe and Huíla. It focuses on the search for structural solutions to counteract the effects of drought on the lives of populations residing in these provinces, which have been devastated by the phenomenon for a long time.
President João Lourenço, who was speaking to the press, specified that within the scope of the PCESSA, the province of Namibe is the one that will have projects of greater dimension and cost.
The idea involves retaining “rainwater from the plateau of Huíla province, in particular, and that, because there are no dams, this water has been lost in the Atlantic Ocean”, said João Lourenço.
He explained that the strategy involves taking advantage of the natural course of the waters, “taking advantage of them”, as well as benefiting the population, cattle, agriculture and, eventually, fisheries.
João Lourenço considered the program ambitious and did not neglect the mobilization of financial resources, in a phased manner, for its full implementation.
“We are talking very close to three billion dollars”, he said regarding the execution of the program started with the construction of Canal do Cafu, infrastructure that is benefiting 235 thousand people, 250 thousand heads of cattle.
The President of the Republic recalled that in the same “package” there are other projects that include the construction of six large dams that have not yet started.
“We can count, without fear of being wrong, that in the next four years we will have the program concluded”, expressed the Holder of the Executive Power.
About the visits to the different projects under way in the 18 provinces of the country, President João Lourenço said that they serve to implement the ideas that are outlined by the Executive.
“We came to the field to also encourage the contractors with my presence. Experience has shown that it accelerates the work a little more”, stressed the President of the Republic.
He recognized that despite the work in progress, there is still much to be done, considering this fact understandable “if we take into account that Angola was the victim of an armed conflict that lasted decades, there must be no country in the world that has experienced such a bitter situation as for ours”.
He underlined that there were 27 consecutive years of war. “Today we are at 21 years of peace” which were still not enough for us to rebuild what was destroyed”.
For More News And Analysis About Angola Follow Africa-Press
