Resettled households complain of lack of water – Moatize, Mozambique

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Resettled households complain of lack of water – Moatize, Mozambique

12:42 CAT | 24 Mar 2016

Human Rights Watch (File photo) / Mualadzi

People resettled in Mualadzi, in Moatize district, in the western Mozambican province of Tete have been without drinking water since January, due to a breakdown in the water supply system.

The people now living in Mualadzi were resettled from the area of Benga, because of the open cast coal mine dug there by the company Rio Tinto (which subsequently sold its Mozambican coal assets to the Indian company ICVL).

Rio Tinto installed the Mualadzi water system in 2013, to benefit more than 300 resettled households.

During a visit by the provincial governor, Paulo Auade, to Moatize district on Saturday, Mualadzi community leaders informed him that they had been without water for the previous two months. Just one borehole with a pump is functioning in the area.

No water comes from the other six boreholes that were drilled by Rio Tinto – but this breakdown may well be due to natural causes, as the drought hitting southern and central Mozambique has lowered the water table in Moatize.

Lack of water is also a severe problem for livestock in Moatize. “We’re doing very badly in Mualadzi”, the community leaders told Auade. “Water hasn’t come from the boreholes since January. Our animals are also suffering”.

Auade reacted by issuing orders to the Moatize district government to solve the problems. He told the head of the infrastructure services in the district to “solve this situation by next Friday”.

There are 14 standpipes linked to the Mualadzi boreholes, and the entire system is currently managed by ICVL.

Source: AIM