Africa-Press – Angola. The municipal administrator of Cubal, Paulino Banja, announced, this Tuesday, the implementation this year of a sustainability plan to boost the agricultural sector in the region.
Speaking to journalists, on the sidelines of the municipality’s 56th anniversary ceremony, Paulino Banja recalled that the district, in the colonial era, was once considered the land of “green gold”, referring to the large production of sisal that catapulted the economic growth of the municipality. Cubal.
The person in charge clarified that the Administration, in collaboration with the Agrarian Development Station (EDA), is grouping cooperatives in order to train and empower them more and more.
“Taking into account the development perspective of the Lobito Corridor, we are investing in replacing subsistence agriculture and moving towards modern technologies”, he explained.
He also said that the Administration has contacted the owners of idle farms, with a view to revitalizing them.
“The Provincial Government of Benguela plans to implement the Strategic Food Reserve based on cereals, in this case corn. As a result, we were given technical equipment to work, helping in various fields”, he stated.
He also informed that, as part of the fight against poverty, the Administration has been distributing motor pumps to farmers, but the Government intends to rehabilitate the dams, which can supply water to fifteen or twenty thousand families, making greater use of the agricultural fields.
He revealed, disappointedly, that of the twenty registered farms, only three are in operation.
“Some are abandoned and others occupied by former workers, but we have contacted the owners with a view to rehabilitating them or the State will hand them over to whoever has the capacity to do so”, he warned.
PIIM projects _
The municipality of Cubal registered seven projects in the Integrated Plan for Intervention in Municipalities (PIIM), which were launched in 2020.
According to the director of the Studies, Planning and Statistics Office (GEPE), Mário Bongue, these are basic sanitation, three seven-room schools, a health center, a police station and earthworks.
Asked about the current status of the projects, he said that the basic sanitation equipment, a school and the police station in the Tumbulo commune have already been delivered.
“The medical center built in the commune of Yambala is practically completed, the only thing missing is its equipment, which will happen soon, whose contractor has already been paid,” he stated.
It revealed, however, that the Provincial Government terminated the contract with the contractors of two schools, due to non-compliance with contractual deadlines, due to lack of technical and financial capacity.
“We are reorganizing the processes to launch the competition for new companies”, he informed.
Regarding the earthworks from the headquarters to the conunas, Mário Bongue said that initially 162 kilometers of road were planned, but depending on the approved value, some readjustments were made and it remained at 104 km, corresponding to the sections between the headquarters and Yambala, which is already completed, and from headquarters to Tumbulo, it is underway.
Ephemeris Activities _
On the occasion, a parade was held in which the productive, social, sporting and cultural sectors took part, with emphasis on the Chilombonde, Onhacto and Focopo dances and chingange.
In another aspect, young people trained with the support of the Cubal Municipal Administration, as part of the fight against poverty, benefited from various kits.
In this regard, three field schools with 35 families each, two cooperatives and eight individual producers, received agricultural inputs, while twenty young people benefited from sewing kits, eight for decoration, five for pastry and three for cooking.
A pilgrimage to the local cemetery to lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier, as well as an ecumenical service, a gospel show and a show with musicians from Benguela and Luanda, also completed the program of activities for the municipality’s 56th anniversary.
Cubal was elevated to the category of town on January 23, 1968.
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