Mozambique: Licungo University needs 26 million meticais to repair cyclone damage
Voa Portugues
In Mozambique, what many had feared is starting to become visible, with the financial crisis becoming apparent in the country’s health facilities.
The Machava Health Centre, on the outskirts of Maputo, is one example, and the staff, although on condition of anonymity, have raised the alert.
“We’ve been out of fuel for the ambulance for two days. We don’t know what we’ll do if we need to transfer patients to other units,” one of the employees said.
Our reporter found requests for hospital users to help with the purchase of electricity pasted on the walls, and patients’ families are being asked to bring meals to the hospital.
“The director came to tell us that there is no food and we have to bring food from home,” one of the patients in the maternity ward said.
Mozambique is beginning to feel the effect of the suspension of budget support by international partners because of the so-called ‘hidden debts’ crisis.
The Government is implementing austerity measures including cuts in subsidies and other perks that may endanger the payment of wages in the coming months.
“What we are saying is that we have to control the payment of overtime, allowances and other perks because if we continue to pay without control, we might find we have problems paying wages towards the end of the year,” Minister of Economy and Finance Adriano Maleiane has acknowledged in statements to the press.
The severity of the financial situation remains little spoken about, with the authorities strive to give the impression that everything is under control. But, right across state institutions, there are clear indications that the crisis is becoming a reality.
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