Maputo — The Mozambican government has announced that it needs about 644 million US dollars to repair the damage caused by the floods that have engulfed much of southern and central Mozambique.
According to the country's relief agency, the National Disaster Management Institute (INGD), the torrential rains damaged 3,447 houses and completely destroyed 771. The storms and floods also affected 229 health units and 431 schools.
The floods also damaged 1,336.5 kilometres of roads, including stretches of the country's main north-south highway, National Road Number One (EN1). The break in EN1 at Incoluane, about 100 kilometres north of Maputo city, has made it impossible to travel overland between the north and south of the country.
According to Inocêncio Impissa, government spokesperson and Minister of State Administration, who was speaking to reporters on Tuesday, in Xai-Xai City, capital of the southern province of Gaza, after a meeting of the Council of Ministers (cabinet), these figures are still preliminary and are included in the Plan for Post-Flood Reconstruction.
"The plan is aimed at ensuring resilient, inclusive and sustainable recovery of the socio-economic situation by adopting integrated and coordinated strategies for stabilization and reconstruction in the post-flood period', he said.
Impissa said that the plan is intended to adopt a resilient reconstruction strategy, which can ensure that infrastructures are designed to withstand extreme weather events.
"By approving the strategic lines for this Plan, the government reaffirms its determination to lead the transformation process that will structurally reduce the impacts of floods and strengthen national resilience', he said.
