Africa-Press – Angola. The main difficulties that impede the normal social and economic growth of the province of Cuando Cubango were, yesterday, brought to the attention of the President of the Republic, during the meeting with the local authorities.
The Head of State also received suggestions of the need to conclude various social and economic projects, to guarantee the well-being of the populations. By the way, Governor José Martins informed that the province has been gaining a “very slow” level of growth, due to the lack of execution of several economic and social projects.
He recalled that Cuando Cubango is the only province where the works included in the Integrated Plan for Intervention in Municipalities have not yet started. ”The lack of execution of these and other programs, the suspension of many other projects and social facilities, started some time ago, delayed the development of the province in various aspects of social and economic life,” he said.
It requested support for the completion, soon, in the municipality of Menongue, of the four buildings with 64 apartments to accommodate the staff, as well as the boarding schools of the medium institutes of Health and Agrarian, for young people from other municipalities, who wish to complete their training in these sectors.
He also asked for the intervention of the Head of State for the conclusion of the works of the Municipal Administration and the palace of the administrator of Menongue, paralyzed for more than eight years. Another concern expressed by the governor relates to the need to conclude the works on the Menongue Football Stadium, to prevent the province’s main team in the First Division from playing games at home, in Bié.
In the Public Works chapter, he complained about the lack of a bridge over the Rio Longa, on the Cuito Cuanavale and Nancova section. Governor José Martins recalled that since the country’s independence, on November 11, 1975, the municipality of Nancova has been isolated from the rest, which has had “harsh consequences” in the lives of the populations.
The need for earthworks in the streets of the outlying districts of Menongue was also expressed by the official, for whom the province has already benefited from the works on the Cuchi-Cutato section, over a 54-kilometre extension, whose end of the contract is imminent.
He mentioned, by the way, that the lack of roads and bridges means that travel to the municipalities of Mavinga, Nancova, Rivungo, Cuangar, Calai and Derico takes 12 to 24 hours by car, at an average speed of ten to twenty kilometers per hour, on trails and crossing rivers and streams.
He stressed that the precariousness of National Road 140, on the Caiundo-Catutui section, a 265-kilometre road that connects with Namibia, has contributed to delaying the region’s rapid growth.
Central subordination projects
Still in the field of infrastructure, the Government of Cuando Cubango wants to see the completion of the central subordination projects based in the city of Menongue, namely, the University Campus, whose physical execution of the works has already reached 80 percent, the power plant, Hospital Sanatório and the Menongue Centrality, which will minimize the population’s housing problems.
In the Security and Public Order chapter, the provincial authorities expressed concern about the “notable scarcity” of technical means to support the National Police units. They also highlighted the need to improve the living conditions of police forces in the barracks, mainly in the Border Guard Police posts.
The province of Cuando Cubango has an estimated population of over 600,000 inhabitants. It has nine municipalities and 30 communes, being the second largest region in the country in terms of extension (representing 16% of the national territory, after Moxico).
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