Nyusi urges population of Derre to raise production

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Nyusi urges population of Derre to raise production

11:29 CAT | 07 Apr 2018

O País

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Friday urged the population of Derre district, in the central province of Zambezia, to increase their production in order to benefit from the electricity transmission line that he inaugurated.

Previously Derre depended on a diesel powered generator that did not provide electricity 24 hours a day, but now, thanks to the 102 kilometre transmission line from Morrumbala to Derre, it is connected to the national grid.

“Normally electricity is not just to illuminate houses, but it is to produce income”, Nyusi told the crowd at the inauguration ceremony. “For this, you have to increase your production and productivity so that the presence of this electricity is felt in Derre”.

A reliable electricity supply would allow people to keep goods frozen and thus preserve them for much longer.

“You have to produce”, Nyusi continued. “You have to raise your chickens, those of you who go a long distance to fish must carry on fishing, those who grow tomatoes must go on growing them, for nothing can rot. Even if you don’t have your own freezer or refrigerator, people where you sell your goods do have freezing facilities. So all our produce can be preserved. So there’s no reason not to increase production”.

The President said he is well aware of other problems facing Derre, such as the lack of a reliable source of safe drinking water and the absence of banking facilities.

But he assured his audience that work is under way to install a new water supply system, “and with this electricity everything is facilitated”.

He added that the government is in contact with the commercial banks to ensure that, by the end of next year, all districts in Zambezia, including Derre, will have at least one bank branch.

The Derre electrical system was designed by the publicly-owned electricity company, EDM, and cost the government 163 million meticais (about 2.6 million US dollars).

Nyusi urged the population of Derre to exercise vigilance over the new electricity facilities and not to allow any sabotage. One of the perennial problems faced by EDM is the organised theft of cables and metallic parts from pylons, costing the company millions of dollars every year.

Source: AIM