The President of the Republic, Daniel Chapo, announced on Friday, January 30, the resumption of traffic on National Road One (N1), the main land route, which had previously been suspended due to closures caused by rain and flooding, promising further efforts to support the victims, reported Lusa.
“Before our visit to Niassa, and before our trip to Cabo Delgado, we visited National Road One on the 3 de Fevereiro–Incoluane section to see the work being carried out. What we did was leave a clear recommendation to the contractor to increase equipment and working hours, and today we have the honor to announce that the connection on the N1 has been restored,” stated Chapo in Niassa, in the north of the country.
The President had assured on Tuesday (26) that traffic on the N1 would be restored within a maximum of two weeks, noting that the rains continue to affect Mozambican families and promising further efforts to mitigate their impacts.
“As a government, we remain firmly committed to supporting affected families, redefining reconstruction plans for critical infrastructure across our country—roads, bridges, energy, schools, hospitals for our people—and, above all, seeking structural solutions to make Mozambique increasingly resilient to the effects of climate change,” added the Head of State.
Mozambique has recorded a total of 22 deaths in the floods of recent weeks, with 700,000 people affected, 3,541 partially destroyed homes, 794 completely destroyed, and 165,946 flooded, according to provisional data from the National Institute for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction (INGD), which also reports 45 injured and ten missing since January 7, at a time when families are still awaiting aid in the south of the country. Since the start of the rainy season in October, including the recent weeks of flooding, there have been 146 deaths, 148 injured, and 820,984 people affected, according to INGD data.
Relief efforts and rescue operations for families trapped by the floods continue, particularly in Maputo and Gaza, in southern Mozambique, as heavy rains over several days have led dams, including those in neighboring countries, to release water due to limited capacity.
The European Union, the United States, Portugal, Angola, Spain, Timor-Leste, Norway, and Japan, in addition to neighboring countries, have already sent emergency humanitarian aid.
More than ten aerial units are involved in the rescue operations, including from South Africa, as well as private boats and the Navy.
Source: Diário Económico
