The Health Minister announced that he needs two million dollars for reconstruction at the Palma Health Center, destroyed in March by the armed groups that have been attacking Cabo Delgado.
"It is an infrastructure that had been recently rehabilitated and fitted with state-of-the-art equipment, is now completely destroyed. It is a crime," Armindo Tiago said, speaking during a visit to assess the damage of the terrorist action in Palma, quoted by Mozambique Television.
In total, according to the Mozambican governor, the Ministry of Health needs two million dollars for the reconstruction of two new wards.
Although the operating room was spared, the outpatient care part, including the maternity ward, were vandalized, and the schedule for the rehabilitation of the infrastructure is underway.
"I had all the equipment and it's all burned today. It's a total desolation," the Mozambican minister declared.
The minister said that the Mozambican government is looking for ways to transform the Palma Health Center into a district hospital.
Besides Palma, according to Armindo Tiago, the Mozambican executive will rehabilitate health units in the districts of Macomia and Mocímboa, also affected by armed violence in Cabo Delgado.
The attack on Palma, near the gas project under construction, occurred on March 24, causing dozens of deaths and injuries.
The district hosts the natural gas exploration project led by Total, the largest private investment in Africa (around $25 billion), which has since been suspended due to insecurity in the region.
The conflict has led to more than 3,100 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project, and more than 800,000 displaced people, according to the authorities.
Since July, an offensive by government troops with Rwandan support, later joined by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), allowed for an increase in security, recovering several areas where rebels were present, including the town of Mocímboa da Praia, which had been occupied since August 2020.
Lusa Agency