PM discusses cyclone damage with provincial government

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PM discusses cyclone damage with provincial government

8:23 CAT | 21 Feb 2017

File photo / Carlos Agostinho do Rosário

Mozambican Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosario met on Sunday with the Inhambane provincial government to discuss the measures required to alleviate the suffering caused by cyclone Dineo, which hit the province on Wednesday and Thursday last week.

At the opening of an extraordinary session of the provincial government, Rosario urged local leaders to propose solutions which could be implemented by the central government.

In his capacity as chairperson of the government’s Emergency Coordinating Council, Rosario praised the population of Inhambane for the resilient way they had faced the effects of the cyclone. He said he had received the impression they are picking themselves up from the impacts of the storm.

He also praised the role of the provincial government, the emergency institutions, the meteorology services and the mass media for their work in alerting the public to the approaching cyclone. “We think we have taken a strong step forward in terms of prevention”, he said. “Our institutions were capable of doing what was essential”.

After the opening session, the meeting continued behind closed doors. Reporters learned that the Prime Minster heard from members of the provincial government about the urgent measures needed to rebuild the schools, health units and other facilities damaged by Dineo, and to prepare for the second sowings in this year’s agricultural campaign.

The updated statistics present at the meeting indicated that around 652,680 people were affected by the cyclone in Inhambane and Maxixe cities, and in the districts of Morrumbene, Massinga, Jangamo, Zavala, Inharrime, Panda, Vilankulo, Funhalouro, Mabote and Homoine.

The cyclone blew the roofs off a large number of classrooms, affecting 160,000 pupils and 5,000 teachers. The torrential rain that inundated farmland caused the loss of about 29,000 hectares of crops.

The provincial government has increased its estimate of the sum needed to repair the cyclone damage to over 900 million meticais (about 13 million US dollars at current exchange rates).

Rosario also visited some of the damaged buildings, including three schools wrecked by the cyclone. He expressed concern at the poor quality of the building work, which had increased the vulnerability of these schools to natural disasters.

The Prime Minister insisted that the design of public buildings should take Mozambique’s geographical location into account, and the fact that it is prone to tempestuous weather. They should be constructed to standards which made them more resilient to floods, storms and cyclones.

Due care should be taken in selecting the contractors to build schools and other public infrastructure, he said, and the companies that inspect the work of the contractors.

Source: AIM