Africa-Press – Angola. A new water supply system, called “Quilonga”, will be built in the country’s capital, announced Friday (7th) in Luanda, the Minister of Energy and Water, João Baptista Borges, during the signing of the consignment documents. and the laying of the first stone for the construction of the Bita project, Sistema 4.
The Bita project, valued at US$1.7 billion, to be carried out over a period of three years, will benefit more than three million inhabitants, with 170,000 new household connections in the municipality of Belas, in the districts of Quenguenda, Vila Verde, Cabolombo, Ramiros, Morro dos Veados and reinforce the areas of Benfica and Camama.
On the other hand, the Quilonga project, valued at USD 1.3 billion, will cover five million inhabitants, in a capture process also to be carried out on the Kwanza River, close to Bom Jesus.
“The set of projects to be developed in Luanda for the next five years reach a global investment of 2.5 billion dollars. The Executive’s goal is that, in fact, Luanda can have water on a regular basis”, he said.
The Quilonga system, explained the minister, will guarantee the water supply to the north of Luanda, such as Cacuaco, Viana, Icolo and Bengo, neighborhoods such as Mulenvos de Baixo, Belo Monte, 30, Cepa do Bengo, the Zango area, including the 8 thousand centrality, the New Airport, the University City and the Special Economic Zone. “The focus is on the most vulnerable locations, in terms of regular water supply”.
The Bita project, he added, is insufficient to cover the existing shortage in Luanda. “After the conclusion, we will have ten million inhabitants benefited, but this number does not cover the deficit. With Quilonga, we will be able to overcome the existing deficit and the future”, he explained, adding that efforts are being made so that the project is carried out as soon as possible. faster, in the coming months, so that it is completed more or less within the timeframe of the Bita system.
As for the Quilonga project, the minister added that funding is currently being closed and it will have a capacity of 500,000 cubic metres, double the storage capacity of system 4, which has 259,200 cubic metres.
João Baptista Borges said that the Bita project is the first of two major projects that the President of the Republic announced as priorities for the improvement of water supply in Luanda.
“Luanda has to know better days in relation to water supply, one of the main complaints of the population. There is today a significant deficit. The solutions are the construction of Bita, in the portfolio for years and now with the ‘green light’, in a financing of the World Bank. All conditions are in place for the work to start being executed as quickly as possible”, he guaranteed.
Capacity Recovery
While the two projects are being built, and as a way of minimizing the bigger problems in the water supply, the minister announced the recovery of the capacity of certain systems, already existing, but at the moment inoperative, with more than 45 thousand cubic meters, capable of supplying more than 450 thousand people.
The recovery of capacity in these systems, he said, will be carried out, above all, in the systems of Kifangondo and Luanda Sudoeste. “We are convinced that with these actions, we will reverse the water supply situation in Luanda. The objective is to eliminate the circulation of tank trucks, which sell water at a very high price, to the point of not benefiting the most needy families”, he stressed.
Country Level Plans
At the country level, explained João Baptista Borges, the major projects are mainly focused on provincial capitals, with the city of Ndalatando, in Cuanza Norte, as a major concern at the moment, which has a system that is also being built with the World Bank financing, and Saurimo, in Lunda-Sul.
In the remaining capitals of the provinces, he added, water supply systems were built to meet the current and expected population universe. “The current concern in some capital cities is the expansion of distribution networks”, he said, adding that there are approved investments, some of them already underway, for this purpose.
“The main cities in focus are those of Uíge, Lubango and Menongue, which have grown a lot. There is also another program for municipal seats, without a water supply system, as well as another one aimed at rehabilitating and resizing these projects”, he pointed out.
Electrical Energy
Regarding electricity, which saw improvements in supply, the minister explained that the water problem is the same as that of electricity, whose population growth has not been accompanied by that of infrastructure. “The investment made so far for water has been less than the growth in population”.
The act of laying the stone for the construction of the Bita project was witnessed by the Secretary of State for the Treasury, the chairman of the Board of Directors of Empresa Pública de Águas de Luanda, representatives of the World Bank and representatives of the French and British embassies.
Governor Manuel Homem considers the initiative positive
The governor of Luanda, Manuel Homem, who also participated in the act of laying the foundation stone for the construction of system 4 of the Bita project, considered the initiative to be welcome, as it helps to address one of the major concerns of populations, access to drinking water.
“This program will respond to the needs of the populations of the municipality of Belas and also create conditions for better quality of service in the water supply to municipalities, such as Talatona and Viana”, he said.
Luanda, he continued, will gain a lot from infrastructure. “There is a program by the Provincial Government, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Energy and Water, to find solutions that help to minimize the demand and supply that we have to ensure to the populations”.
People, he stressed, are eager to have greater access to water. “We will work to identify what emergency solutions can be added while these big investment ones are being made”, she concluded.
On behalf of the Minister of Finance, the Secretary of State for Finance and Treasury, Otoniel Lobo Carvalho dos Santos, when referring to the support of the World Bank and Banco BPI France for the project, said that over the next 15 years , the Executive will be responsible, from a financial point of view, for the Bita project, which will have a positive impact on the lives of the populations. “It’s worth the effort. All debt well done is an investment for the future”.
Project Strengths
Bita is an integrated water supply system, consisting of a catchment that is six kilometers away from where the stone was thrown, the Kwanza River. The project will also include the treatment, adduction and distribution of water.
In the first phase, it will have a capacity of 259 thousand and 200 cubic meters per day, that is, 259 billion liters of water will be extracted. The project will also have 100 million liters of water storage, in distribution centers, with 66 kilometers of pipelines and 3,700 kilometers of distribution network.
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