22 December 2007
Maputo — The Mozambican Minister of Public Works, Felicio Zacarias, and the Mayor of Maputo, Eneas Comiche, on Friday signed an agreement to decentralize the management of the Maputo Drainage Office.
The intention is to improve management of the city's drainage ditches, and reduce the vulnerability of Maputo residents to water borne diseases.
Previously, the Drainage Office was managed by a department in the Public Works Ministry and one in the City Council, each responsible for a particular geographical area of the city.
This two-headed management did not work, since the two separate departments did not always do their jobs properly. As a result some of the drainage channels went for long periods without any maintenance.
Now the management will be unified under a single autonomous body. "Unification of the sanitation services, will allow better programming of maintenance of the drains and ditches, emptying of the septic tanks, and construction of improved latrines", said Comiche. "This will improve the quality of life of Maputo citizens".
Autonomous and transparent management of the drainage system, he added, will allow highly professional provision of services, and increase the capacity to respond to the problems facing the city's residents.
Comiche also believed that this type of management would attract investments able to increase sanitation coverage in areas not yet reached.
Zacarias said it is the government's strategy to decentralize the implementation of particular programmes down to local level. Meeting the challenges of improving the water supply and sanitation services in the capital, he stressed, would depend on the municipal authorities redoubling their efforts to operate, maintain and manage the services.
Under the agreement the Ministry will transfer the staff and the funds allocated to the Maputo Drainage Office to the City Council, and pledges to provide the municipality with the technical assistance it may need.
Similar agreements have already been signed between the Ministry and other municipalities, including the country's second largest city, Beira.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2007 Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
