29 August 2003
Maputo — The Mozambican government is considering to privatise the management of the water suplly services in six more towns, Public Works and Housing Minister Roberto White told reporters on Friday.
Speaking during an International Seminar on the Participation of the Private Sector in the management of the water supply, that is taking place in Maputo, White said that "we are considering to expand the delegated management of the water supply systems to six more towns".
So far, the management of these services has been trusted to private operators in Maputo, in the south, Beira and Quelimane, the capitals of the central Sofala and Zambezia, and Nampula, and Pemba, the capitals of the northern Nampula and Cabo Delgado provinces, respectively.
The government believes that privatising the meanagement of these services, it will be able to serve more people, with a better quality and at prices affordable to the poor.
White said that only about 32 per cent of the populatioin in the urban areas and 35 per cent in the rural areas are currently benefitting of clean drinking water, and the government is comitted to increase these figures in the next few years, by porivatising the management of the water suplly systems.
"The government is endeavouring to ensure that these objectives are attained quickly, because the priority is to provide clean driniking water to as much people as possible", he said.
He explained that "we are now negotiating the possibility of including six more towns. For that end, we are prepared to invest about 30 million US dollars", he said.
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