Africa-Press – Angola. The supply of drinking water in Luanda will increase as of April, after the completion of two more infrastructures, according to the Secretary of State for Water.
Lucrécio Costa, who was speaking on Tuesday (8th) after visits to several projects aimed at improving water supply, flanked by the deputy governor of Luanda for Infrastructure and Technical Services, Cristino Ndeitunga, said that they are being The Cassaque pumping station, located in the Zango III area, and the Candelabro pump station, located in Funda, municipality of Cacuaco, were expanded.
According to the Secretary of State, the Candelabro works will benefit the areas of Funda, Panguila, Cacuaco, the Industrial Zone of Viana, upper and lower Mulenvos districts, as well as the lower part of the city of Luanda, which receives water from the Distribution of Marcal.
The work is budgeted at over US$122 million. Lucrécio Costa said he was impressed by the infrastructures he visited, such as those at Candelabro, which will distribute 120,000 cubic meters of water a day. He pointed out that about four months ago the work was at 70 percent execution level, now at 92 percent.
Regarding the works on the Cassaque pumping station, the Secretary of State said it was valued at US$104 million, with 90 percent being physical.
The Cassaque pumping station, which not long ago was disabled because it did not receive enough water, will also treat water to be distributed in the Luanda Southeast and Luanda Sul areas, being prepared to reserve 215,000 cubic meters.
Lucrécio Costa, in a brief explanation, said that, over the years, the city of Luanda registered socio-economic, demographic and infrastructural growth, which caused a deficit in the supply of drinking water in the areas of influence of the Candelabro station.
He added that, with the emergence of Centralidade do Sequele, areas of Funda, Panguila, Cacuaco, Industrial Area of Viana, Mulenvos districts, as well as the growth of the areas of influence of the Marçal and Cazenga Distribution Centers, the water production of the ETA Chandelier became insufficient.
“There was an urgent need to build the third phase, with a capacity of 120 thousand cubic meters per day”, underlined the Secretary of State for Water.
Lucrécio Costa and the deputy governor of Luanda for Infrastructure and Technical Services also visited ETA Kifangondo, Candelabro Phase 3, the home network to supply the perimeter of the Quilómetro 12 neighborhood, Vida Pacifica, works to reinforce the raw water transport – Cassaque, Sapú distribution center and CD Vila Flor.
Difficulties in “Vida Pacífica”
The president of the council of residents of the Vida Pacifica urbanization, Maria Dulce, informed, Tuesday, in Luanda, that the lack of distribution of drinking water in some buildings of the centrality continues as to the non-functioning of the pumps, which are not strong enough to deliver water to the upper floors, and to EPAL’s poor distribution capacity. He added that zone I, with seven buildings, is the most critical.
According to the president of the residents’ council, even if EPAL improves the water supply, the pumps will not work at full capacity, with the need to buy new ones.
“At the moment, three pumps are broken, they cost around five million kwanzas and many residents are not prepared to contribute. In zone III, which was without water for two years, each household had to give 43,500 kwanzas”, he revealed.
Maria Dulce asked the authorities to create an administration in the Centrality of Peaceful Life, to safeguard certain situations that can only be resolved at this level. “It is sad to see that basic sanitation and the lack of lighting are still problems in the area”, he lamented. On the occasion, the Secretary of State explained that the technical and operational conditions at the moment do not allow the Pacific Zone to have water at all points. , because the Viana Distribution Center operates at 40 percent of its capacity and, in terms of pumping to the Zango area, it takes only six hours, when it should operate at least 12 hours.
With the interventions in progress, he guaranteed, after its expansion, the Candelabro water treatment center will increase production, operating for more than ten hours. During the visit to Kilometer 12, EPAL’s director for distribution and networks, Hélder Tona, explained that the Kilometer 9 area benefited from the 700,000 connections project in 2014/2015.
He stressed that part of these connections has not received water, because a distribution center with a capacity of five thousand cubic meters was installed, which does not correspond to the needs.
The project, he said, provided for about 23,000 household connections and only 35 percent allow water supply.
The visit also served to project actions that allow more connections and reach at least 65 percent of the population, within 90 days, also reaching the Kilometer 12 area.
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