Nampula — The project to double the supply of clean water to the city of Nampula in northern Mozambique will ensure that it is available to 430,000 people.

Speaking during a visit to the construction site on Thursday, Mozambican Prime Minister Alberto Vaquina stressed that the government's long-term goal is to make safe drinking water available to all of the country's population.

The United States government, through the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), is financing the 27 million US dollar project. Under the contract, the work must be finished by the end of September.

The work includes increasing the reservoir capacity, building a treatment plant and installing pipeline.

Once operational, the system will increase the supply of water to forty thousand cubic metres a day, serving two thirds of the population.

It will help Mozambique reach the seventh objective of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This is to halve by 2015 the proportion of the population without sustainable access to drinking water and basic sanitation.

According to the Prime Minister, the Mozambican government's efforts in Nampula and other parts of the country will have a remarkable impact on the quality of life, reducing diarrheal illnesses such as cholera.

However, Alberto Vaquina stressed the need to continue expanding access to water in both urban and rural areas. In particular, he argued for opening more boreholes to reduce the distance travelled by people collecting water.