Maputo — Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Wednesday announced that the government will allocate 250 million meticais (about four million US dollars) to the central province of Zambezia, the part of the country worst hit by Cyclone Freddy.
The money is intended to ensure the rapid resumption of education and health services, following the destruction of infrastructures by the cyclone.
Nyusi said the money will be managed by the Zambezia provincial government, and is part of a series of measures seeking to mitigate the impact of the cyclone.
"At national level, we shall set up a Technical and Scientific Commission, as a consultative body for matters linked to climate change, including extreme climatic events, analyzing the causes, effects and impacts, and recommending solutions for prevention, mitigation and adaptation', said the President. This body will capitalize on the experience of the Technical and Scientific Commission set up to advise the government during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The new government measures also include the creation of a permanent post-cyclone reconstruction office, and the immediate holding of a damage assessment survey, followed by mobilization of internal and external resources for the recovery of the affected Zambezia districts.
Nyusi instructed the Education Ministry to work to ensure that pupils can return to Zambezia schools safely by the end of March.
He announced that Mozambique Airlines (LAM) and Mozambique Airports (ADM) will exempt from fees the transport of emergency products of up to 500 kilos in flights to the affected areas up until 20 March.
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Port fees and maritime services will be reduced to 25 per cent for the next 60 days, Nyusi added, while fees for the coastal shipping of humanitarian aid will be cut by 50 per cent, also for 60 days.
Nyusi announced these measures in a broadcast to the nation from Quelimane, after he had overflown the flooded areas of Zambezia.
Visiting one of the accommodation centres set up for flood victims in Quelimane, Nyusi declared "We are sad, but we Mozambicans are also resilient. Even in times of suffering, we know what the main agenda is, and nothing will distract us'.
The publicly owned electricity company, EDM, told reporters that it is working hard to restore power to Quelimane Central Hospital, which has been without electricity since Saturday.
The chairperson of the EDM board, Marcelino Alberto, visited Zambezia on Wednesday to see for himself the extent of the cyclone damage. He said the storm had knocked down more than 200 medium voltage electricity pylons.
"Right now, we are concentrating on restoring power to Quelimane Central Hospital, and then we shall concentrate on the power supply for FIPAG (the government agency that runs the water supply system)', added Alberto.
He expected to restore power to all of Quelimane and to some of the other affected districts by the end of this week. He put the losses incurred by EDM at around six million US dollars.
About 95,000 EDM clients in Zambezia were without power, but this figure rises to 116,000 if the consumers affected in Manica and Sofala provinces are included.
