Africa-Press – Mozambique. People with the same names on the list of beneficiaries of subsidies for victims of Cyclone Idai is affecting the process of support for affected families the Mozambique National Institute for Social Action (INAS) said.
“People are appearing with similar names and presenting documents at the posts to receive the subsidies. Others say they did not receive anything in the first phase, while the list says there is a record that they have already received the money. This frustrates our expectations of payment of these subsidies,” Abdul Razack, INAS delegate in Sofala province, told Lusa.
According to the source, such cases are frequent in Beira, one of the most affected by the cyclone that struck central Mozambique in March 2019.
“What we are doing is collecting the data of these beneficiaries with the same names and going back to our registration system to check the information, just so there are no opportunists like there were in the first process,” he said.
The source said it was still premature to put forward the number of beneficiaries who might have their subsidies withdrawn by his institution due to these anomalies but gave assurances that the lists, containing about 32,000 people in the city of Beira, had been double-checked.
The payment of subsidies to victims of Cyclone Idai in Beira district was suspended in August last year due to restrictions imposed by Covid-19, as the facilities of the entity that should make the payment started to register crowds, following complaints from people who were not on the lists.
In total, about 74,000 families from 10 of the province’s 13 districts, people severely affected by Idai, are due to receive the subsidy in Sofala province.
The Mozambican government approved a monthly subsidy of 2,500 meticais (€29.30) to each of the victims.
Cyclone Idai hit central Mozambique in March 2019, causing 604 deaths, and 1.8 million people were affected.
Shortly after, in April, the northern part of the country was affected by cyclone Kenneth, which killed 45 people and affected another 250,000.
Mozambique is considered one of the countries most severely affected by climate change globally, facing cyclical flooding and tropical cyclones.
