Beira municipality needs almost US$888 million for reconstruction – Mayor

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Beira municipality needs almost US$888 million for reconstruction – Mayor

3:05 CAT | 20 May 2019

Photo courtesy: Conselho Municipal da Beira - CMB

The municipal government of Beira will present donors with a budget of US$888,448,000 (EUR 795.1 million) to finance the reconstruction and resilience plan drafted after Cyclone Idai, the city’s mayor announced on Friday.

“Beira, in the expenses inherent to the municipality, will need 888,448,000 US dollars,” Daviz Simango said at a public meeting presenting the plan in the capital city of Sofala province.

The budget will be submitted to the donors’ conference scheduled for May 31, June 1 of this year.

Most of the municipality’s reconstruction expenditure will be devoted to housing, with US$275 million (EUR 246 million), followed by the economic and business sector, US$203 million (EUR 181 million), and drainage, US$194 million (EUR 173.6 million).

The reconstruction of coastal protection infrastructure will require US$91 million (EUR 81.4 million), sanitation US$49 million (EUR 43.8 million), road infrastructure US$37 million (EUR 33.1 million ) and public buildings US$12 million (10.7 million euros).

The budget is divided into short, medium and long-term expenses, so as to allow the gradual and proportionate disbursement of financial assistance, Simango explained.

“The municipality alone has no capacity to pay for reconstruction,” he emphasised.

Commenting on the Plan for Reconstruction and Resilience, Jorge Fernandes, the president of the Beira Business Council, said he considered the document bold, auspicious and comprehensive.

“From what we have seen, this plan addresses several spheres and takes into account the location and working conditions of our business area,” Fernandes said.

The budget presented Friday refers only to the municipality’s specific areas of intervention, there being other competences which appertain to the central government.

A imagem pode conter: 12 pessoas, pessoas sentadas

On Tuesday, the Mozambican executive said it would submit to donors a request for US$3.2 billion in aid for the reconstruction of areas affected by cyclones Idai and Kenneth.

Of this amount, US$2.6 billion would be channelled to repairing the damage caused by Cyclone Idai in central Mozambique in March, and the remainder to that caused by Cyclone Kenneth in the north the following month.

Cyclone Idai hit central Mozambique in March, causing 603 deaths and affecting about 1.5 million people, while Cyclone Kenneth, which struck the north of the country in April, killed 45 people and affected 250,000 people.

Source: Lusa