Nyusi inaugurates substation and transmission line – AIM report

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Nyusi inaugurates substation and transmission line – AIM report

8:36 CAT | 24 Feb 2020

Photo: Jornal Faisca

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Friday inaugurated an electricity substation at Marrupa, in the northern province of Niassa and a 110 Kv electricity transmission line between Marrupa and the city of Cuamba.

The substation and the transmission line are part of a plan to improve the electricity supply to Niassa and surrounding areas, budgeted at 54.5 million US dollars and financed by the government and its partners.

Before the conclusion of the 240 kilometre Cuamba-Marrupa line, the connection between these two districts was provide by a medium voltage line of only 33 Kv. This could not provide adequate power for economic development programmes in the province.

But the new line and substation will allow the emergence of medium and large projects, with a high demand for electricity. It should improve the reliability and quality of the power supply.

Nyusimarrupakornalfaisca — *Photo: Jornal Faisca*

The publicly owned electricity company, EDM, intends to make 25,000 new connections to the national electricity grid in Niassa, and in two districts of the adjacent province of Cabo Delgado, by September.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Nyusi said that the number of EDM clients in Niassa rose from 51,922 in 2015 to 89,597 in 2019. This means that about 25 per cent of Niassa’s population now has access to electricity in their homes.

He urged his audience to take maximum advantage of the reliable electricity now available to them. “Exploit your energy well in order to produce wealth”, Nyusi declared.

He said that this year, the government has set itself the task of doubling the number of electricity consumers in the country, from the baseline figure of 2015, a leap which will generate large numbers of jobs.

Nyusi recalled that last year the government completed its programme to electrify the capitals of all the country’s districts. Now its focus was on the next rung down the ladder of local government, that of the administrative post. 300 of the existing 446 administrative posts already have power, and the government has set itself the task of bringing electricity to the rest.

About the insurgency in Cabo Delgado and “Renamo Military Junta”

Nyusimarrupacuambajornalfaisca — *Photo: Jornal Faisca*

Turning to the islamist insurgency in Cabo Delgado, Nyusi told the rally in Marrupa there are strong signs that those encouraging the disturbances are not Mozambicans.

“These are people who are not pleased when Mozambique is doing well”, he said. “They want to take as much as they can of the country’s natural resources. They don’t like the country to exploit its resources. But we don’t do the same thing to them”.

Nyusi said that captured insurgents have revealed who is giving them their instructions, but investigations by the Mozambican authorities are continuing. He did not reveal what the captured terrorists had said, or from which countries the alleged ring leaders come from.

The insurgents appear to be making attempts to recruit young people to the insurgency in Niassa. In Mecula district, which borders Marrupa, an attempt to send 30 young men to join terrorist groups in Cabo Delgado was recently frustrated.

Nyusi urged his audience to be the lookout for suspicious offers of employment, from people who were attempting to deceive the youth of Niassa. He pointed out that companies recruiting for genuine jobs do not do so clandestinely or in the middle of the night. And youths who really wanted jobs did not need to leave Niassa to find them.

“You must be vigilant when somebody appears who is deceiving you”, he urged. They should tell the authorities at once “that this person is deceiving us”.

Turning to the activities of the self-styled “Renamo Military Junta”, which has been attacking vehicles on the roads in the central provinces of Manica and Sofala. Nyusi said they are continuing to make demands on the government.

They started off by demanding senior positions in the defence and security forces, which was accepted, the President said – but then they kept adding further demands. “They ask for things while they go on killing Mozambicans”, he said. “We are not going to allow the entire country to be blackmailed with these demands”.

Source: AIM