Africa-Press – Mozambique. The United Arab Emirates have expressed interest in building dams for water retention in Mozambique in order to control rainwater and prevent flooding, Prime Minister Maria Benvinda Levi said yesterday.
“In one of the meetings we had with the Minister of Foreign Affairs (…) he went even further than we expected when we were discussing the floods, stating that his government is interested in making a greater contribution to Mozambique, essentially through the construction of dams that would allow water retention, so that in future occasions we do not have to experience the same ongoing drama,” the Prime Minister said.
Speaking at a press conference reviewing Mozambique’s participation in the World Governments Summit held in Dubai from February 3 to 5, Prime Minister Levi said that the two countries will, in the coming days, prepare delegations to move forward with the materialisation of the UAE’s intention.
“We welcomed this very concrete expression of interest from the United Arab Emirates, and we will certainly work with teams from both countries to determine where to build, how, when and what the duration of these works will be, and we hope that the benefits will materialise,” said the Mozambican Prime Minister.
In the same statements, Benvinda Levi said that the United Arab Emirates have also expressed interest in investing in agriculture, in addition to advancing cooperation and the exchange of experiences in the field of state administration and the civil service, with the aim of bringing services closer to citizens.
“Our challenge is for every citizen to find in the State a reliable partner, in the sense that if I seek public services, the State must be prepared to serve me and I must leave well served. It is a challenge; we know that Mozambique still faces many challenges, not all public institutions operate at an optimal level, but we are adopting measures aimed at moving towards that optimal level,” Levi stated.
Mozambique: Industrial and digital agriculture mark the new government strategy
The numer of deaths from the January floods in Mozambique has risen to 25, with 724,385 people affected, according to provisional data from the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction (INGD).
According to information from the INGD database, accessed by Lusa and updated as of 14:30 on Thursday, the floods recorded in several parts of Mozambique have already affected the equivalent of 170,392 families.
Since 7 January, 147 people have also been injured and nine reported missing as a result of the floods, in addition to 3,587 houses partially destroyed, 885 completely destroyed and 166,081 flooded, worsening previous figures.
Since the start of the rainy season in October, including the January floods, there have been 191 recorded deaths, as well as 291 injured and 845,144 people affected, according to INGD data.
On 16 January, the government declared a national red alert.
According to updated data, there are currently 77 accommodation centres operating, hosting 78,407 people. This update also records that, since 7 January, 229 health units and 323 schools have been affected, as well as 14 bridges and 3,783 kilometres of road.
INGD records also indicate that 440,906 hectares of agricultural land have been affected, of which 275,405 hectares are considered lost, impacting the activity of 314,783 farmers, in addition to the death of 412,446 head of livestock, including cattle, goats and poultry.
The European Union, the United States, Portugal, Angola, Spain, Timor-Leste, Switzerland, Norway, Japan and China, in addition to neighbouring countries, have already announced and delivered emergency humanitarian aid.
Source: Lusa
