Daviz Simango accuses government of marginalizing Beira

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Daviz Simango accuses government of marginalizing Beira

2:39 CAT | 06 Jun 2016

VOA / Daviz Simango

Beira mayor Daviz Simango says that if he had half or even a third of the funds channelled to Maputo, much could be done, but claims that Mozambique’s second-largest city remains marginalized by the state in terms of investment, despite facing major problems of coastal erosion and land use.

Simango said that key projects for the renovation of Beira’s sea defences had received insignificant public funds, and that, taking into account its complex morphology and geology, Beira required extraordinary investment.

“The problem of the coast alone requires extraordinary funding. If you look at the funds Maputo has, if Beira had had half or a even a third of those funds, much could have been done, but Beira has to use its own money,” he said.

Simango said that the municipality was moving forward with a master plan and concrete projects, and that coastal protection was to have been built with material dredged from the port access channel.

“Unfortunately Emodraga dredges the material but keeps the material at sea, instead of replacing the dunes at low cost as we had suggested. Also the dredged material would develop landfill, allowing the people to build in safe situations,” the mayor said, adding that attempts to seek central government support have been fruitless.

The city of Beira has been fighting sea invasion for years, but with intensified frequency since 2013. Built on reclaimed swampland at the confluence of the Púnguè and Buzi rivers, the city is generally below sea level and now faces flooding due to the obstruction of drainage channels and the destruction of its protective mangrove plantations.

An ambitious stone breakwater project was started in 2013 following a previous first plan for a five-kilometre masonry wall, but has proved unsustainable.

Last April hundreds of people were displaced by sea invasion which destroyed dozens of homes in neighbourhoods built in reed beds along the beaches.

“At the end of the day we say Beira will rise from the ashes and be strong, proving our ancestors, who decided to create the city of Beira, right,” Simango declares.

Davis Simango is also president of the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM), the third-largest party in parliament.

Source: VOA Portugues