The Mozambican President, Filipe Nyusi, announced on Monday 19 August that the government already has 50 million dollars (3.1 billion meticals) to finance the construction of the dam on the Muera River, in the northern province of Cabo Delgado.
According to the statesman, the money has been raised from development and co-operation partners, stressing that the infrastructure will serve to ensure water supply to the districts of Muidumbe, Mueda and Nangade.
‘Funding is already in place and so we intend to start work as soon as possible. The Ministry of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources will launch a public tender in the coming months,’ he explained.
In March, the Minister of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources, Carlos Mesquita, made it known that the dam will be built to the approved standards and will induce economic development in the region.
‘We are committed to mobilising funding, both through public-private partnerships and cooperation and development partners, and we already have the amount needed for the Muera dam,’ he said.
At the time, he emphasised that other dam construction projects were underway, namely Mapai in Gaza, Megaruma in Cabo Delgado, Moamba Major in Maputo and Mugeba in Zambezia.
According to Carlos Mesquita, these projects are of the utmost importance since, combined, they can store more than 9 billion cubic metres for multiple uses and thus boost socio-economic development in the regions covered by the projects.
‘We continue to focus on promoting the construction of small dams and reservoirs, which are extremely important for helping to reduce food insecurity. As a result of this effort, in the last five years, the government, with the support of its partners, has built 28 dams, which have a total storage capacity of 900,000 cubic metres and which benefit around 40,000 people,’ he said.
Cabo Delgado province has been facing terrorist attacks for more than six years, which led to a military response since July 2021, with support from Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community, liberating districts near the gas projects.
After a period of relative stability, new attacks and movements were recorded at the beginning of the year, leading foreign entities to restrict travel to that part of the country.
