Around 1.5 billion meticals (25 million dollars) are being invested in the expansion of the water supply dam in Mogovolas, Nampula province, in northern Mozambique. The project, funded by the government and the World Bank, aims to improve water supply capacity, the newspaper Noticias reported on Thursday, 9 January.
According to the district administrator, Emanuel Mpissa, ‘the money is being made available in phases and also includes the district of Malema, where construction and expansion of the water supply capacity is planned.’
As far as Mogovolas is concerned, ‘when the project is finalised, a thousand domestic connections are expected to be established, benefiting 31,000 consumers, compared to the current 26,000,’ he said.
The investment is intended to tackle the cholera outbreak in that district which, according to the Ministry of Health, has already killed 20 people.
As a result of misinformation about the disease spread in the communities by individuals in bad faith, the recently built operating theatre and cholera treatment centre in Nametil, the district’s headquarters town, were destroyed, forcing Médecins Sans Frontières staff to leave.
A study carried out by health experts concluded that the outbreak was due to a lack of drinking water, since the supply was interrupted due to a fault with the motor pump. As a result, the population was forced to consume untreated river water and, at the same time, share it with animals, which led to the rapid spread of the disease.
According to Mpissa, ‘the pump has been replaced and the drinking water supply is running smoothly’. Also as part of the efforts to mitigate the disease, tanks have been allocated for the phased distribution of water to the communities.