Mozambique: President announces support in face of floods, emergencies – Watch

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Mozambique: President announces support in face of floods, emergencies – Watch

3:04 CAT | 15 Feb 2023

Photo: O País

President Filipe Nyusi yesterday announced support in response to the current situation of floods and emergencies.

The government has decided to allocate to the “existing mechanism for mitigating and managing disaster risks a total of 260 million meticais [€3.8 million] corresponding to 80% of the budget programmed in the Economic and Social Plan and the 2023 State Budget,” President Nyusi said after a meeting of the Council of Ministers.

“In the framework of collaboration with the World Bank,” he also announced, “306.5 million meticais [4.4 million] were disbursed, thus ensuring that the National Institute for Disaster Management [INGD] has funds to respond to emergency situations.”

“Here, we want to thank our partners at the World Bank,” Nyusi stressed.

The Mozambican president also announced the allocation by the government of “an additional fund of US$10 million [€9.3 million] to respond to immediate post-emergency reconstruction needs”.

Since February 7, the southern part of Mozambique has been experiencing heavy rain and flooding which has already killed nine people and flooded 7,600 homes, causing damage to a total of 39,225 people, according to Tuesday’s INGD update.

Around 15,000 people are being accommodated in 13 active accommodation centres.

There is also damage to roads, bridges, health centres and several schools, leaving thousands of students without classes.

During his address to the nation, Filipe Nyusi said that, in addition to the situation in the south, there is an increase in flows in other river basins in the country alongside other emergencies such as the spread of cholera and other water-borne diseases.

Since October, the rainy season has killed 83 people, according to preliminary INGD figures, including other events associated with this period such as strong winds, lightning, wildfires and fires, affecting 63,485 people.

The government has decided to create a work team to “monitor the situation on the ground and periodically report to the Council of Ministers”, Nyusi said.

Measures were also announced to make life easier for people affected by the floods, such as issuing lost documents or discounts on transportation.

Mozambique is in the middle of its annual rainy season, which runs from October to April, and which has been particularly severe this year, with a total of 370 millimetres of rain in the Maputo region in the last week alone, almost triple the expected average for the month of February.

Watch the full presidential address.