Maputo — Mozambique's Minister of Public Works, Roberto White, on Tuesday reiterated the government's commitment to reduce the water supply deficit, not only in urban centres, but even in the country's most remote rural areas.

He was speaking in Maputo's Ferroviario neighbourhood, at the ceremony laying the first stone for a rehabilitation and expansion of the city's water system.

The government's Water Assets and Investment Fund (FIPAG), after an international public tender, has contracted the Chinese company, the China Metallurgical Construction Corporation, to undertake the work, which will increase the city's capacity to treat water from 120,000 to 144,000 cubic metres a day.

By building a new water distribution centre in the Laulane neighbourhhod, and expanding the existing one at Maxaquene, the storage capacity will rise from 150,000 to 190,000 cubic metres.

The distribution network will expand to areas in the northeast of the city so far not touched by the distribution network, making piped water available for a further 200,000 people. The project is due to be completed in 19 months.

White pointed out that, despite significant investments made over the past decade, currently only 38 per cent of Maputo's population is served by the public network.

The same network also serves the adjacent city of Matola, and the district of Boane. Currently 81,000 homes and establishments and 438 public standpipes are linked to the network, serving a total of 650,000 inhabitants in Maputo, Matola and Boane.

The Mayor of Maputo, Eneas Comiche, told the ceremony that this project showed that the City Council was complying with the manifesto on which he was elected in 2003.

"Aware of the importance of water in the struggle against diseases such as cholera, we have decided to expand and improve the supply system in the north of the municipality", he said.