Road rehabilitation underway

The World Food programme (WFP) this week offered tenders for the rehabilitation of three roads in Mozambique to enable the delivery of food aid to flood-affected areas of the country.

The tertiary roads, two in Maputo Province and one in Gaza, would provide easier access for WFP relief trucks to Xai Xai and the islands in the Limpopo river, as well as Sabi 100 km northwest of the capital, Maputo. “We’re going ahead with the tendering and will probably be awarding the contracts in the next two or three weeks,” a WFP official told IRIN.

The rehabilitation has been made possible by a recent US $1.4 million donation by the Italian government to a WFP appeal for road and bridge repairs following the devastating floods of February and March. WFP has identified more than 500 km of tertiary roads that need overhauling at a cost of US $3.2 million.
“Repairing destroyed infrastructure such as roads and bridges is not only essential for relief food delivery, but for economic revival overall,” Georgia Shaver, WFP’s Regional Manager for Southern Africa said in a statement this month.

Meanwhile, the Italian government is to disburse approximately US $4 million to help boost agriculture in the central provinces of Manica and Sofala. The funds would enable the distribution of maize, beans, sorghum, millet and groundnut seeds, as well as farming tools, to 77,400 families. The project is due to start in September, news reports said.

However, an official of the National Agriculture and Rural Development Directorate was quoted as saying that at least US $11 million would be needed to support 187,000 families affected by the floods in Sofala, as well as the southern provinces of Gaza and Inhambane.