351122E PM NOTES PROGRESS IN CABO DELGADO RECONSTRUCTION

351122E PM NOTES PROGRESS IN CABO DELGADO RECONSTRUCTION

Pemba (Mozambique).11 Nov (AIM) – Mozambican Prime Minister Adriano Maleiane declared on Thursday he is convinced that the Cabo Delgado Reconstruction Plan (PRCD 2021-2024) is being implemented at a good pace in those districts of this northern province that have been affected by islamist terrorism.

Maleiane expressed this optimism during an Extraordinary Session of the Cordination Forum for implementation of the plan, held in the provincial capital, Pemba, during a three day working visit by the Prime Minister to the province.

“From the report presented, we can at least be certain that the displaced people are returning”, said Maleiane.

The coordination model adopted for implementation of the reconstruction plan “is working”, he declared, and “the partners are seeking more funds to support us”.

But challenges remain in mobilizing the resources to conclude Phases I and II of the Plan, which are the activities to be undertaken in the short and medium term. The short-term activities are budgeted at 190 million US dollars, and the medium term activities at about 109 million dollars.

Maleiane added that, to stimulate economic activity, the government is also mobilizing resources “so that economic agents, small and medium enterprises, can be on the ground. For economic activity must resume, and it can also encourage those who are not yet certain whether it is worth returning to their home districts”.

The Cabo Delgado provincial governor, Valige Tauabo, told the meeting that, thanks to the improvements in security, more than 50,000 households who had fled from the terrorist raids have now returned to their zones of origin

The report presented to the meeting detailed the rehabilitation of schools, health units, and other public buildings, as well as access roads, the electricity and communications networks, and the financial system. All this was necessary to encourage the return of displaced people and the resumption of public services.

For his part, the chairperson of the Agency for the Integrated Development of the North (ADIN), Armindo Ngunga, explained that many of the rehabilitation activities are undertaken by partners, without the direct involvement of the government, including the hiring of contractors, and the subsequent implementation and financing. He admitted that this makes it difficult to know exactly how much money is being spent.

For example, a partner who wants to provide boreholes for drinking water hires the contractors, the work is done and, at the end, the boreholes dug are presented. “We are happy with the work done”, sad Ngunga, “but we don’t always know how much it cost. We are satisfied, in that a problem has been solved. But in terms of the accounts, it’s difficult. We never had access to this money”.

The provincial director of economic activities, Daniel Agostinho, said that Cabo Delgado is standing up, and “activities are under way at a good pace”.

Despite the terrorism, “we had good production in the agricultural campaign that has just ended. The displaced people themselves managed to open their own fields. We can’t always be dependent on outside support”.
(AIM)
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