October storm in Maputo: 16 dead, 168 injured, 23,000 still in need of support

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October storm in Maputo: 16 dead, 168 injured, 23,000 still in need of support

3:51 CAT | 09 Nov 2016

Noticias

Nearly 23,000 people affected by the storm that struck the province and city of Maputo in late October continue to need assistance, government spokesman Mouzinho Saide warned on leaving the 38th ordinary session of the Council of Ministers, held yesterday.

According to Saide, initiatives to alleviate the suffering of these people are underway, and at the same time, the Government, through the National Institute of Disaster Management (INGC), is providing shelter and supplies, working on restoring electricity supplies, cleaning drains and gutters and distributing roofing material.

“The Council of Ministers was informed that the gale has killed 16 people, ten in the province and six in the city of Maputo, injured 168, and caused material damages to various infrastructure components, cumulatively affecting about 23,000 people,” Saíde explained.

He added that, in terms of food assistance, in October, for example, 457,857 people were assisted throughout the country, but that the alert continued in force because moderate rainfall is forecast for the next 15 days in Maputo, Manica, Gaza and Inhambane provinces.

Concerning the supposed incapacity of the National Meteorological Institute (INAM) to predict the occurrence of natural phenomena, Saide said it was recommended that the capacity of this institution to detect these occurrences be restored.

Saíde said that at yesterday’s session, the Government assessed and approved an Operational Plan for Food Production, which aims to identify products for food self-sufficiency and export.

The plan also aims to determine intensive production targets by province and product, define financing mechanisms for production and analyze markets to safeguard the domestic production of these products.

“The proposal intends to materialize the priority actions of the agrarian and fishing sectors in at least three priority crops, two of which are food and one export culture per province,” Saíde said, adding that the Operational Plan for Agricultural Marketing for 2017 was also assessed, ensuring the absorption of agricultural production by the national market, identifying the prospects for production by province and the main players in marketing.

Source: Noticias