The Minister of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources, Carlos Mesquita, said that around 18.3 million people now have access to safe drinking water in the country, setting the coverage rate at 65 per cent, a figure that represents an increase on the 57 per cent recorded in 2023.
Quoted by Agência de Informação de Moçambique (AIM), he said that the projects to expand the water supply system have brought positive results and are helping to develop communities living in remote areas by improving their quality of life.
“We’ve grown in terms of the coverage rate. Today, 65 per cent of Mozambicans have access to safe water. Many challenges remain, especially at a time when we are seeing a significant increase in the population. By the end of 2024, the sector will be implementing a number of initiatives that should have an impact on more than 600,000 people,” he emphasised.
As far as housing is concerned, Mesquita guaranteed that 300 houses are being finalised to benefit young people: these are ‘zero’ type homes, which can evolve to ‘3’ type.
“We are making reasonable progress with housing projects. Recently, the President of the Republic, Filipe Nyusi, handed over 24 houses in Monapo and another 100 in Katembe. Other houses are being finalised in Montepuez and Pemba, which will be inaugurated in a few weeks’ time,” he stressed.
In February, the head of state had declared that the Executive was making every effort to develop housing projects, while recognising that there are financial limitations to carrying them out.
“We are working on the basis of available funds, so the level of implementation is still slow,” he clarified.
The population and housing census carried out in 2017 by the National Statistics Institute showed that 60 per cent of households in Mozambique live in precarious, grass-roofed houses, and that the reality is more dramatic in rural areas where the majority of the national population lives.
