Nyusi inaugurates water system in Massingir

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Nyusi inaugurates water system in Massingir

9:24 CAT | 05 Apr 2018

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Wednesday officially inaugurated a water supply system in the town of Massingir, in the southern province of Gaza, with the capacity to provide about 16,700 people with water.

The system has been in operation since last year, and was set up under the project to rehabilitate the bottom outlet on the Massingir dam, on the Elephants River, the main tributary of the Limpopo. Work on the dam and the water supply was financed jointly by the Mozambican government and the African Development Bank (ADB) at a total cost of over 3.1 million US dollars.

According to the Southern Regional Water Board (ARA-Sul) the distribution network runs for about 30 kilometres, covering seven neighbourhoods in Massingir town. There are about 300 home connections.

The water comes from three of the dam’s relief wells, and it is envisaged that the number of sources will rise to ten, in order to ensure water for irrigation as well as for human consumption.

There is an underground tank that can hold 200 cubic metres of water, and a pumping station equipped with two pumps that can move 120 cubic metres of water an hour. The system also envisages an overhead tank that can store 150 cubic metres of water, and a 120 kva generator.

ARA-Sul estimates that by 2036, the system will be supplying water to almost 27,000 Massingir residents.

A private company has been hired, by public tender, to manage the system. The ARA-Sul spokesperson said the major challenge will be to persuade the Massingir communities that the water is not free of charge, and they must pay the water bills that they will now receive regularly.

Addressing a rally in the town, Nyusi recalled that the last time he had visited Massingir, in 2015, “you asked for water. Now you have water, but what is missing is to expand the distribution network”.

“Electricity has not yet reached all neighbourhoods in the town”, he added. “But some of the houses that didn’t have electricity in 2015, are now connected”.

In 2015, there had been requests for the rehabilitation of Massingir hospital. That has not yet happened, but Nyusi announced that the tender has been launched to select a contractor for the work.

Nyusi also launched a national livestock vaccination campaign in Massingir. He urged all livestock farmers to bring their animals for vaccination.

Source: AIM