The Mozambican Minister of Transport and Communications, Mateus Magala, said on Monday 29 January that the country must invest more in order to guarantee the sharing of reliable climate information, in order to ensure better prevention and reduction of the damage caused by natural phenomena.
Speaking at the opening of the Southern Africa Climate Outlook Forum, he recalled that the floods that have already hit the country are the result of a lack of preparation on the part of the competent authorities.
“In February last year, the National Meteorological Institute (INAM) released information about the rains, but civil society and various stakeholders said that the scale of the problem had not been specified. It is by taking these and other examples that we call for better provision of climate information,” he emphasised.
According to Mateus Magala, the provision of credible information in real time will allow for better control of the national river basins.
Mozambique is considered one of the countries most severely affected by climate change in the world, facing cyclical floods and tropical cyclones during the rainy season, which runs from October to April.
The 2018-19 rainy season was one of the most severe on record in Mozambique: 714 people died, including 648 victims of cyclones Idai and Kenneth, two of the biggest ever to hit the country.
According to government figures, in the first quarter of last year, heavy rains and Cyclone Freddy caused 306 deaths, affected more than 1.3 million people, destroyed 236,000 homes and 3,200 classrooms.
