By MOZTIMES
Maputo (MOZTIMES) – The Mozambican government has announced that it needs 6.6 billion meticais (over 103 million US dollars, at the current exchange rate) to assist about 100,000 households affected by the floods that have engulfed much of southern and central Mozambique.
According to Inocêncio Impissa, government spokesperson and Minister of State Administration, who was speaking to reporters on Tuesday after a meeting of the Council of Ministers (cabinet), the amount will be used to strengthen social assistance and acquire health products and food for those sheltered in the accommodation centres which the government has set up for people displaced by the floods.
According to the country’s relief agency, the National Disasters Management Institute (INGD), the known death toll from the storms and floods in Mozambique’s current rainy season now stands at 112. The extreme event also destroyed 728 houses, and damaged 2,700. 62,000 homes were flooded, while 43 health units and 88 classrooms were affected.
The authorities have activated 68 accommodation centres, which are currently sheltering 91,310 people.
Despite financial constraints, Impissa said, “the government has allocated resources to deal with the situation, relying on national resources and support from international partners and neighbouring countries.”
Among the resources available, he added, are nine helicopters, used in search and rescue operations to pluck stranded people from rooftops and out of trees.
President Daniel Chapo, speaking at a meeting in Maputo on Tuesday with representatives of private business, said the government’s top priority is to save lives.
“We are at a stage when the floods are still occurring”, he said, “and they are causing enormous damage throughout the country”.
Chapo warned of the danger of outbreaks of disease in the crowded accommodation centres set up to shelter the flood victims.
“Where there are a lot of people in the same place, there can be outbreaks of water-borne diseases such as malaria and cholera”, he said. “People may lose their lives even after they have been rescued”. (MT)
