New water system for Gorongosa inaugurated

Gorongosa (Mozambique), 17 Nov (AIM) – More than 30,000 people will benefit from clean drinking water in Gorongosa town, in the central Mozambican province of Sofala, thanks to a new water supply system that President Filipe Nyusi inaugurated on 15 November.

Budgeted at 93 million meticais (about US$1.5 million), the system, built from scratch is the result of a grant from the British government.

The water for the system is taken from the Gorongosa dam along a 2.3 kilometre pipeline to a treatment station that can handle 100 cubic metres per hour. There is a raised deposit that can hold 150 cubic metres and a 500 cubic metre reservoir. The system has a network of 14 kilometres of piping, which supplies 16 public standpipes and 55 home connections.

The new system is part of the National Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Programme (PRONASAR), a joint initiative developed by the Mozambican government and its development partners, intended to speed up water supply and sanitation coverage in rural areas and small towns, with the goal of reaching universal access by 2030.

The new system brings to an end the suffering of a considerable part of the Gorongosa population who were previously obliged to walk long distances in search of water. The conditions have now been established, President Nyusi said, for the entire population of Gorongosa town to be covered by clean water supply.

“This is your water”, said the President. “This water can supply more than 45,000 people. About 15,000 are already benefitting from the system”. He instructed the local government and the Gorongosa population to create conditions to guarantee the sustainability of the water system, in order to make the investment viable and ensure the continual and efficient supply of water to the town. “Water supply is a process of sharing responsibilities between the government, the operator and the community, said President Nyusi.

He recognised that there is still a long way to go to meet all the water needs in Sofala, and the level of coverage by clean water systems is still well below what would be desirable. “That is why we are committed to invest gradually until we reach universal water supply coverage”, President Nyusi said.

Britain has been supporting PRONASAR since 2010, and the British High Commissioner, NneNne Iwuji-Eme, explained that the investment in the system is complemented by building up the capacity of the institutions responsible for water supply at central, provincial and district level, including the hiring of technical assistance.

“Through our partnership with PRONASAR, we intend to contribute to the transformation of the water and sanitation services, allowing a greater response to the demand from the neediest communities in the rural areas”, the High Commissioner said. “I am pleased to be here to witness the effort of the Mozambican government and its partners to attain the Sustainable Development Goals”.

She pledged that the British government will continue supporting Mozambique so that universal access to clean water by 2030 becomes a reality.  Since the start of the programme, Britain has financed 84 water supply systems, six of them in Sofala.
(AIM)