Mozambique: Italian Grant for Flood Relief And Fight Against Cholera
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Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
24 July 2008
Posted to the web 24 July 2008
Maputo
The Italian government has just disbursed a million euros (about 1.6 million US dollars) to support the Mozambican government in the emergency caused by the flooding in the Zambezi Valley and elsewhere in central and northern Mozambique, and in the fight against cholera.
The money is arriving months late, long after the flood waters have subsided and the victims have been resettled, and after the rainy season cholera outbreaks have died down.
According to Fabrizio Falcone, coordinator for health and social activities in the Italian Cooperation office in Mozambique, the money was disbursed 15 days ago, and will be used in Maputo, in the flood-hit central provinces of Sofala and Zambezia, and in Cabo Delgado in the far north.
He told AIM the money would be used to improve sanitation, increase the availability of clean drinking water through opening new boreholes, and supporting peasant farmers who lost their crops to the floods.
Some of the money will be used to acquire material that will strengthen the capacity of Mozambique's relief agency, the National Disaster Management Institute (INGC), including the provision of four motor boats.
"Cholera and floods are, unfortunately, two disasters that occur cyclically in Mozambique", said Falcone. "This year, after several requests presented by the Mozambican authorities, the Italian government decided to allocate a fund of a million euros to alleviate the difficulties of the people affected by these disasters".
Falcone admitted "there were delays in disbursing this sum because of bureaucratic questions on the part of the Italian government. But this situation has its positive side, because these resources will now be used in a more directed manner".
He said that in Zambezia the aid will be channeled to Morrumbala district, to build a market for farmers to sell their goods, to distribute seeds for the next growing season, and to drill wells. These activities will absorb 210,000 euros.
In Mocimboa da Praia district, in Cabo Delgado, 100,000 euros will be spent on supporting the government's sanitation campaign, and on improving the water supply and sanitation facilities at the district hospital. This should help minimize the risk of cholera in this area.
Half the grant (500,000 euros) will be spent in Sofala, to build houses for some of the families displaced by the floods, and to rehabilitate the water system in the small town of Sena. Some of the money will be spent on reactivating the agricultural economy in Buzi and Machanga, which were also badly hit by flooding, and on sanitation campaigns.
In Maputo, the funds will be spent on opening wells to supply schools and health units in outlying neighbourhoods with clean drinking water. Ensuring that the water supply is uncontaminated is one of the key measures for preventing cholera outbreaks.
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Falcone said that these activities should be concluded by March 2009. Currently the administrative procedures for the import of the necessary material are under way.
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Copyright © 2008 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.
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