27 August 2003
Maputo — Mozambique needs over one billion US dollars in order to meet the millenium target of reducing to half the people deprived of clean drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015.
Mozambican Public Works and Housing Minister Roberto White said, during the opening session of an "International Seminar on the Participation of the Private Sector in Water Supply", that took place in Maputo on Wednesday, that "in a little more than 10 years we must double the coverage and serve nearly the current population, i.e., 16 million people".
He said that the government is working with its partners to raise the necessary funds, which he described as too high for the country's present financial situation, and this is why the government understands the need to involve the private sector.
This meeting is aiming at discussing ways to involve the private sector in the water supply management in order to ensure a good service to the peri-urban populations.
"We are here because we are not satisfaied with the situation, and we are aware of the limitations of the solutions adopted in the past, and we want to find new ways to improve the conditions of life of the people living in extreme poverty, that impede them0 from playing a dynamic role in the development process of our countries", he said.
He added that the Mozambican government has been conducting deep reforms in the water supply sector since 1995, and if the challenge is as big as it shows, awareness of the importance of the private sector has also been growing.
White stressed that "this is why the government has established the extension of the water supply network as a priority", adding that this has been done through the privatization of the management of the sector in five of the Mozambican cities.
He noted, however, that another important factor is to involve local communitiees in these services.
This is a challenge launched during the "Conference on Sustainable Development, in South Africa, last year, where it was decided that poor countries should set up regulations to manage water supply services, through the private sector, and that rich countries should support them financially.
"In the case of Mozambique, we think that we have already created a regulatory system to attract investment from the private sector, and now we are trying to mobilise the necessary financial resources to implement the programme", said White.
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