Africa-Press – Angola. Two secretaries of State and a deputy governor, appointed on the 19th of this month, were sworn in, this Thursday, at the Presidential Palace, in Luanda, by the Angolan Head of State, João Lourenço.
These are Arlindo Bota Manuel Carlos, Secretary of State for Energy, António Fernandes Rodrigues Belsa da Costa, Secretary of State for Water, and Duarte André Ginga, deputy governor of the province of Malanje for Technical Services and Infrastructures.
During the event, the President of the Republic highlighted the importance of the Water and Energy sectors, both for the lives of populations and for the economic and social development of any country.
He said that there is no life without water, nor health, education, industry and economy without energy and water.
João Lourenço said that the Executive has dedicated special attention to both sectors, knowing that the country’s development depends, to a large extent, on its greater or lesser supply.
“We have made large investments and even so they are not enough to make us feel satisfied”, he stressed.
In this sense, he asked those appointed to help and work with the minister, so that, in the near future, significant steps are taken, more than has been done to date, in these important sectors of the country’s life.
Waters
The new Secretary of State for Water highlighted improvements in distribution as challenges, stating that there are ongoing projects to overcome this situation, such as the Bita and Kilonga stations, which he will pay special attention to so that there is no slippage in the execution schedule.
He also spoke about the many works that are carried out in the city and that cause damage to pipelines, without prior information, which leads to complaints in areas where works have already been carried out and paving done.
This situation, he said, is aggravated by acts of vandalism, which do not allow water to reach the city of Luanda with good quality.
To resolve these problems, authorizations for new interventions are necessary, processes that take time and delay the resolution of specific issues, according to the director.
António Fernandes Rodrigues Belsa da Costa pointed out the lack of payment by the population that benefits from the product, which creates constraints that mean that companies do not have the sustainability to maintain the operation of their facilities.
The focus, he stressed, is to maintain 100% operation of the existing facilities, because there will be no point in finishing Bita and Kilamba if the existing ones stop working.
Likewise, he stated that it is the sector’s intention to train staff to improve maintenance work and be closer to customers, with the aim of responding to their complaints in a timely manner, as well as reducing potholes in the city, that is, carrying out interventions and automatically close them in order to avoid accidents and incur more costs for companies.
Energy
In turn, the new Secretary of State for Energy said he had received clear guidance from the President of the Republic, and will therefore work to respond to the Executive’s efforts to develop the sector.
According to Arlindo Bota Manuel Carlos, the focus is also on continuing all the work already carried out to date, to increase the national electrification rate, which is currently 44%, with a view to improving the investment conditions that boost the economy of country.
Challenges for Malanje
The vice-governor of Malanje said that the challenges are great, not only in the energy, water and telecommunications sectors, but mainly because the province lacks a lot of development in several areas, so he will work and do his best in sense of leveraging the province’s growth.
Regarding PIIM, Duarte André Ginga reported that Malanje is one of the worst in terms of compliance, with less than 50% implementation, so the challenge is to reverse this situation. “We will work to improve,” he said.
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