Africa-Press – Angola. The improvement of the population’s medical and medication conditions is a permanent concern of the local authorities, said the deputy municipal administrator, José Londa, who spoke about the construction and rehabilitation of health units, such as the Municipal Hospital.
Today, April 5th, Soyo marks 48 years since it became a city. The ephemeris is being celebrated with great euphoria by the inhabitants, who since the 1st, participate in several activities programmed by the local administration.
The riverside city is decorated with various decorations typical of festive moments, resulting in a very pleasant setting in the eyes of guests from other municipalities in the province and also from other parts of the country, especially Luanda.
Despite the adversities resulting from the economic and financial crisis, aggravated, in the last two years, by the Covid-19 pandemic, the former village of “Santo António” in Zaire is making great strides, towards the desired development in the most varied domains of social life. and economic.
Located in the extreme northwest of the province of Zaire, Soyo appears to be a giant in the country’s economic context, as a result of the existence, in its soil, of various mineral resources, especially crude oil. But the region’s potential is not limited to oil exploration alone.
The municipality, which was the “gateway” of Portuguese settlers to Angola, when they disembarked in 1482 at Ponta do Padrão (mouth of the Zaire River), commanded by the navigator Diogo Cão, also has other natural features, including and places suitable for the practice of tourism, which continue to lack investments capable of creating a greater scenario of attraction.
The Mussolongos, an aboriginal Kikongo ethnic-linguistic subgroup of the region, are extremely proud of their land and consider it “blessed”, as it is also surrounded by the imposing river Zaire, where there is an abundance of high quality species, which makes the fishing activity quite expressive, constituting one of the main sources of income for many families in the region.
Gains Achieved
Our report spoke, on the occasion of the event, with the deputy municipal administrator of Soyo for the Political and Social Sector, José Suca Londa, who, in a concise and clear way, described the main gains achieved over the 48 years of the rise to the city category.
José Londa highlighted the Education and Industry sectors as being the ones that have gained the largest number of infrastructures, as a result of the engagement of the authorities, both at the municipal, provincial and central levels.
The official cited as examples of the aforementioned gains the construction of the “Angola LNG” ventures, for the exploitation of Liquefied Natural Gas and the Combined Cycle of gas turbines, aimed at the production of electricity.
He also referred that at the moment many other projects are under construction in the locality, namely a factory for the transformation of agricultural products, a gas production factory, an oil refinery and two fish processing factories, whose works are in the conclusive.
“For those who have known the municipality of Soyo for years, you can testify that a lot has changed for the positive”, he said, adding that the Education sector has been benefiting from many infrastructures at university level, secondary and basic education, but without, however, advance concrete numbers.
José Londa noted that the emergence of these and other undertakings in the region has an impact, directly or indirectly, on the lives of the inhabitants and on the local economy, since it allows the creation of new jobs and the generation of income, necessary for the the State can give continuity to the actions that aim to create conditions for the well-being of the citizens.
Referring to the Integrated Plan for Intervention in Municipalities (PIIM), the administrator informed that the PIIM projects in Soyo were divided into two axes, namely for the improvement of basic sanitation, requalification of public squares, construction of schools, an integrated police station and rehabilitation of the municipal administration headquarters building.
Also within the scope of the PIIM, he added, rehabilitation works are underway on the access road to the communes of Sumba and Pedra de Feitiço, along a route of around 145 kilometres.
In a first phase, he explained, the referred works consist of the accommodation of the soil, with a view to facilitating the flow of agricultural production and beyond. He said that similar work was also carried out on the section connecting the commune of Quêlo, with the help of the provincial government’s road maintenance brigade.
Health and drinking water
The improvement of the population’s medical and medication conditions is a permanent concern of the local authorities, said the deputy municipal administrator.
The construction, rehabilitation and expansion of several sanitary infrastructures in the municipality is a reality. José Londa gave, as an example, the Municipal Hospital that has been benefiting from restoration and expansion works for months.
“The municipal administration has also been carrying out restoration work on the health units in the communes of Quêlo, Sumba and Pedra de Feitiço, with the aim of improving working conditions and medical and drug assistance to the populations”, he said.
The official also said that the municipal administration is also carrying out an intense work of recovery and construction of drinking water supply systems in all communes and some densely inhabited villages in the municipality.
Our report found that in the city of Soyo and outlying districts, the demand for drinking water is still “screaming”, a situation that, according to a technician from the Empresa de Águas do Zaire, results from the reduced production capacity (340 cubic meters/ hour) of the current Soyo Water Treatment Plant (ETA), taking into account the population density, estimated at more than 208 thousand inhabitants.
Given the population growth of the city of Soyo, the deputy municipal administrator of Soyo defended the urgent need to expand the current system of transport and supply of drinking water.
“There is a project to expand the water system started six years ago, but the company hired for this purpose has not completed the work, due to the economic and financial crisis. There is now another company that should continue the works, because this situation actually worries the municipal administration”, he said.
The program for the celebrations of the 48th anniversary of the city of Soyo includes several activities, including a business fair, music show, ecumenical worship, athletics race, football match, blood donation and cleaning campaigns.
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