The government has managed to mobilize around 50 million dollars from cooperation and development partners for the construction of the Muera Dam in Cabo Delgado, announced the Minister of Public Works and Water Resources, Carlos Mesquita.

"We are committed to mobilizing funding, either through a public-private partnership or through cooperation and programmatic development partners, for the implementation of dam-building projects, including Mapai in Gaza, Megaruma in Cabo Delgado, Moamba Major in Maputo and Mugeba in Zambézia," said Mesquita.

These infrastructures are of the utmost importance since, combined, they can store more than nine billion cubic meters for multiple uses and thus boost socio-economic development in the regions covered by the projects, he said.

"We continue to focus on promoting the construction of small dams and excavated reservoirs and we are currently developing the small dams strategy, which will create a framework that will allow for a better definition of the government's role and a better involvement of the private sector in the construction of these infrastructures, which, although small, have a major impact on the lives of communities," said Carlos Mesquita.

The construction of small dams, he emphasized, is extremely important for reducing food insecurity. As a result of this effort, in the last five years the government, with the support of its partners, has built 28 dams, with a total storage capacity of 900,000 cubic meters, benefiting around 40,000 people, watering around 20,000 head of cattle and irrigating 120 hectares.

It should be noted that in the last five years, the government has promoted the construction and rehabilitation of 10,878 dispersed sources and 336 rural water supply systems and, in urban areas, 154,000 household connections have been established, which are providing safe services for around 4.7 million additional people.