The new system is based on a well field in Nicoadala district, about 30 kilometers from Quelimane.
The new system guarantees that Quelimane will be supplied with drinking water for 24 hours a day. The amount of water pumped to the city and the surrounding areas rises from 4,800 to 12,000 cubic metres a day. The new system benefits about 70,000 people.
It replaces a system that was based on just four wells in Licuari, on the outskirts of Quelimane, which only provided enough water for eight per cent of the city's population for eight hours a day.
The money for the new system comes from a World Bank loan to the government's Water Supply Investment and Assets Fund (FIPAG). It covers not only the Nicoadala well field, but also a treatment station, a reservoir holding 2,000 cubic metres of water, and 40 kilometres of water main. The nearby town of Nicoadala will also benefit from the new system. The building work was in the hands of a Chinese contractor, the Sino-hydro Corporation.
Construction of the new system involved relocating 88 families (out of a total of 600 who were affected by the project) at a cost of 1.1 million dollars. The families concerned were provided with new houses and fields, plus a supply of food aid, and seeds for the next planting season.
On Saturday, Guebuza will inaugurate the 8th National Festival of School Sports in Quelimane.
SOURCE: AIM
