Mozambique: Eight Million Dollars Needed to Repair Cyclone Damage

Maputo — Mozambican Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosario is making a two day working visit to the southern province of Inhambane to assess the damage done by cyclone Dineo which hit the province on Wednesday and Thursday last week.
Data from provincial governor Daniel Chapo indicates that the death toll from the cyclone stands at seven, while 51 others suffered injuries. 152,000 people were affected by the storm, particularly in the coastal districts.
Many of those temporarily displaced have now returned to their homes. But about 800 people are still accommodated in a centre opened on the premises of the Pedagogic University, where they are benefitting from assistance provided by the country's relief agency, the National Disasters Management Institute.
According to Chapo, the province needs at least 550 million meticais (about eight million US dollars) to repair the most seriously affected education and health facilities. To raise these funds, the provincial government will rely on its own resources, those of local civil society organisations, and those of development partners, including Ireland and UNICEF.
The cyclone disrupted electricity and water supplies and communications, which are being gradually re-established. But the ferry service between the cities of Inhambane and Maxixe remains interrupted. The cyclone destroyed the jetty on the Maxixe side.
Without the ferry, people who live in one of the two cities but work or study in the other cannot cross the narrow finger of sea that separates them. A provisional jetty has been installed, and Chapo said the government is working to re-establish the full ferry service in the coming week.
According to INGC General Director Joao Machatine, the 550 million meticais mentioned by the governor is only the start of what will be needed to restore life in the province to normal. “The damage in Inhambane is dramatic, and requires that funds be made available urgently”, he said.
Machatine said that, in the more severely affected districts, the cyclone had blown the roofs off 70 per cent of the schools, but because teaching must resume as quickly as possible, interventions short of full repairs are urgently needed so that classes can restart.
He added that difficulties in reaching some of the areas struck by Dineo means that a complete picture of the damage is not yet available.

Source: Aim

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