Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Mozambican Minister of Public Works, Joao Machatine, on Friday said that the government has managed to guarantee at least 50 per cent of the necessary funding for the second phase of the presidential initiative known as “Water for Life” (PRAVIDA-II), scheduled to begin in 2022.
Under PRAVIDA-II, budgeted at 50 million US dollars, Machatine stated that the government wants to ensure access to clean drinking water by 80 per cent of the population in the urban areas and 73 per cent in the rural areas by 2024.
Machatine was commissioning the water supply system in the administrative post of Ressano Garcia (90 kilometres northwest of Maputo), on the border with South Africa, which has cost over 66 million meticais (slightly more than one million US dollars, at the current exchange rate). The new system will ease several years of water shortage.
The water to feed the new distribution centre built on a hilltop is harvested from the Incomati River, which is about two kilometres away. The centre has one water tank holding 100 cubic metres which is 18 metres above ground, and another holding 150 cubic metres on the surface. There is also a pipeline that runs for 2,000 metres.
So far, 100 domestic connections have been made plus four public standpipes. The system will provide drinking water to 3,500 of the more than 11,000 residents of Ressano Garcia. Consumers will enjoy access to clean water during eight hours.
The inauguration of the water supply system, Machatine said, marks the start of a new dawn in the history of Ressano Garcia, which has gone for several years without access to safe water.
“The system will be of paramount importance in ensuring access to drinking water to the residents of 25 de Junho Neighbourhood, where about 40 per cent of Ressano Garcia lives,” Machatine said, adding that the government plans to expand and fast-track access to drinking water.
He urged the residents to adopt a sustainable and rational use of water as well as ensuring that the system is not damaged by ill-intentioned people, so that the financial resources available can enable the government to expand access to other consumers.
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