20 million Mozambicans have access to clean water

Maputo, 20 Aug (AIM) – Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi has announced that 20 million people, corresponding to 63.6 per cent of the Mozambican population, have access to clean drinking water.

According to Nyusi, speaking, on Monday, during the inauguration of a water supply system in Pemba, capital of the northern province of Cabo Delgado, over the last five years the government has installed water systems across the country.

“At the start of my first term of office, in 2015, access to drinking water stood at 51 per cent. Then there were about 20 million Mozambicans and 12.6 million had access to clear water people”, he said. “With the implementation of various programmes, in particular Water for Life, the level of coverage rose to 63.6%, benefiting around 20 million people by 2024”.

However, the President acknowledged that access to water is still a challenge “and the government would have reached the 100 per cent water supply target, if the Mozambican population had not grown.”

According to Nyusi, the government will continue to prioritize the construction of more water supply systems, retention sources and the rehabilitation of dams and reservoirs.

He also called on the population to improve sanitation conditions, since “the investments that the government is promoting in the area of water supply go hand in hand with sanitation, which is another problem.”

“We can have good quality water, but if sanitation isn’t good it reduces life expectancy”, he said. “Without reliable access to quality water, people become vulnerable”.

Nyusi believes that the construction of water supply systems across the country will continue and more infrastructures will be inaugurated later this year, with the aim of benefiting the population with this “fundamental and basic resource.”

“Providing Mozambicans with water is not a favor, it’s an act of social justice. If you want to be fair, find water for your compatriots. Providing water means respecting human dignity, it means observing human rights”, the President said.

(AIM)

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