The government aims to ensure that all citizens have access to clean drinking water by 2029. The Minister of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources, Fernando Rafael, called on Thursday, October 9, for “quick and effective responses” to accelerate the process of universalizing water supply and sanitation services, prioritizing rural and urban areas as well as vulnerable groups.
“Water and sanitation are the most visible and most demanded services by citizens. We are called to provide quick and effective responses to achieve universal access to water and sanitation,” said the minister, emphasizing that the goal is “to move forward step by step toward universal access and reducing disparities in public service delivery.”
Speaking in Maputo at the opening of the 11th Coordinating Council of the Ministry of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources, which runs until Friday, Fernando Rafael recalled that the government’s Five-Year Plan includes the construction of 154 water supply systems across the country as part of its strategy to achieve universal access.
By 2029, the government also plans to establish 133,000 new household connections in cities, towns, and rural areas, as well as to build and rehabilitate three water treatment plants. Two of these will handle wastewater treatment in the cities of Beira and Quelimane, while the third will process fecal sludge in Tete, all located in the central region of the country.
The plan also includes rehabilitating the drainage and coastal protection system of Beira, executing over 6,000 sewer connections, and building 680 public, school, and hospital latrines. According to the minister, these actions are part of a nationwide effort to improve water supply and sanitation infrastructure. “The combination of these actions will expand access to clean water, increasing national water supply coverage from the current 62% to 68% by 2029, benefiting more than 5 million people,” Fernando Rafael explained. The sanitation coverage rate is also expected to rise from 37% to 47.7% during the same period, reaching an additional 5.6 million Mozambicans.
“Our mission is clear: to ensure water in sufficient quantity and quality for everyone, putting this resource at the service of life, the economy, and the environment — turning every drop into a driver of development and hope for Mozambicans,” declared the minister, reaffirming the government’s commitment to the well-being of the population.
In August last year, then-President Filipe Nyusi noted that 63.6% of the population already had access to clean water but acknowledged the need to build more dams, particularly in the north of the country. “At the beginning of my term in 2015, access to clean water stood at 51%, supplying 12.6 million people when Mozambique’s population was 20 million,” recalled the former president.
“With the implementation of several programs, notably ‘Water for Life,’ coverage rose to 63.6%, benefiting about 20 million people by 2024,” he added during the inauguration of the Pemba water supply system in Cabo Delgado province.
The government intends to continue this progress by strengthening infrastructure and investment so that, by 2029, universal access to clean water becomes a reality throughout the national territory.
Source: Lusa
