Rainy season brings new threat

The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) in Mozambique is concerned that next month’s rainy season might washout flood-damaged roads under repair, again cutting off people from food aid.

Laurince Bjorgman, WFP’s deputy country director, told IRIN on Monday that the condition of the roads crossing the Limpopo river, which were ruined by floods earlier this year, remains poor. “Although the roads are being repaired, the advent of the rainy season in September might cause the river to flood, causing more damage to the roads,” he said.

Bjorgman said WFP is active in five provinces - Maputo, Gaza, Inhambane, Manica and Sofala - where it assists 543,000 beneficiaries with food aid. He said in July alone, the agency distributed 6,814 mt of food items by road and boat.

Bjorgman added that WFP’s road repairs projects, in which locals are employed by the agency and paid a wage for their work, will be terminated at the end of the year.

Meanwhile, the government’s disaster management agency Instituto Nacional de Gestao de Calamidades (INGC) said in its latest report that the impact of the February/March cyclones continues to be felt by neighbouring South Africa and Zimbabwe.

“The closure of the Limpopo railway has forced Zimbabwe to use more expensive routes to South African ports,” said the INGC. It added that a drop in hydropower supplies from the Cahora Bassa dam to South Africa has meant that South Africa must use more expensive electriciy from its thermal power stations.

The report also paints a bleak picture of destruction caused by the floods in the northern province of Gaza, where it said 480 people died and 252,025 were displaced out of the 604,200 people whose homes were flooded. The irrigation scheme in Chokwe, said the report, was drowned while 200,000 hectares of crops were lost.

The INGC also said nine bridges were put of action in the province and 1,603 km of roads were destroyed. “About 254 rural water sources and 30 dip tanks for livestock were damaged, while 742 shops and 58 hotels or restaurants destroyed or damaged,” added the report.

Health and educational institutions, according to the INGC, also suffered with 245 schools damaged, affecting 74,830 pupils and 1,031 teachers. Two boarding schools with 958 pupils were destroyed and 46 literacy centres serving 2,786 students also suffered damage. Health institutions, among them one hospital, 8 health centres and 11 health posts were also destroyed, added the report.

Quoting Mozambique’s Minister of Public Works and Housing, Roberto White, the INGC said the floods have cost Mozambique US $45 million in lost exports and over US $245 million in lost production, while damage to property in the public and private sectors amounted to more than US $270 million.