6 June 2011
Maputo — The Mozambican branch of the US aid programme, the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), and the South African contractor WBHO Construction signed a contract in Maputo on Monday for the rehabilitation of the Nacala dam, in the north of the country.
The contract, worth 28 million US dollars, was signed by the Executive Director of MCA-Mozambique, Paulo Fumane, and by WBHO representative, Gert Ferreira.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is a US foreign aid agency set up by the US Congress in 2003, with bipartisan support which provides grants to developing countries which meet US criteria on good governance and “economic freedom”.
The MCC signed an agreement (known as a compact) with Mozambique that took effect in September 2008, under which Mozambique receives a five year grant of 506.9 million US dollars for water supply and sanitation, roads, land tenure services and farmer income support, mostly in the north of the country.
Most of the money disbursed so far has been for viability studies, environmental impact assessments, and project design. The project for the Nacala dam is the first large scale contract signed by the MCA-Mozambique.
The Nacala dam was built under Portuguese colonial rule in 1968 to supply water to the port of Nacala. Since then the population of Nacala has grown massively, and the dam has developed serious problems – much of the water it should hold simply leaks away. It is estimated that 15 to 20 per cent of the dam’s water is lost to seepage.
The work WBHO must do on the dam involves stopping the seepage and raising the height of the dam by four metres. This will increase the dam’s storage capacity from 4.2 million to 6.6 million cubic metres of water. A road that currently goes over the top of the dam must be diverted.
According to Fumane, when the rehabilitation work is complete the dam will supply water to 90 per cent of the city’s population of about 220,000 rather than the current figure of just 47 per cent. Of the total cost of 28 million dollars for the rehabilitation, 1.8 million is provided by the Mozambican government from its own budget while the rest comes from the MCA.
Addressing the signing ceremony, the Minister of Planning and Development, Aiuba Cuereneia, noted that the cost of projects has increased substantially since the compact was signed between the government and the MCC, largely due to spiraling fuel costs. This had led the government to prioritise certain key projects to be funded from the MCA money – particularly the water supply systems in Nampula and Nacala, the drainage in the central city of Quelimane, and repairing stretches of the main north-south highway in Nampula province. Tenders have been launched for all these projects.
The MCA projects also cover rural water supply. Cuereneia said that so far 142 new water sources have been built in six districts of Nampula and the neighbouring province of Cabo Delgado, benefitting about 73,000 people.
Cuereneia stressed that, with its deep water port, and the international airport that will be built there, Nacala occupies “a strategic position”. Improved water supply “will be an incentive for investors to undertake projects in the Nacala Special Economic Zone”.
He urged WBHO to comply scrupulously with the technical specifications for the dam rehabilitation, and to respect the construction deadlines. There was no question of any extension – the deadlines were “not negotiable”, said the Minister. He added that MCA-Mozambique “has clear guidelines not to delay in making payments”.
WBHO has already set up an office in Nacala, and it is now mobilizing equipment. The construction work should take place between August 2011 and March 2013.
American Ambassador Leslie Rowe declared that the programme between the United States and Mozambique “is an example of a true partnership in the development of mutual interests and projects identified by the government and people of Mozambique”
She said that the MCC approach “promotes the leadership of programmes by the beneficiary countries themselves, which she regarded as “important for the development and strengthening of local capacity”.
Rowe said that transparency “is a fundamental practice in everything that the MCC and MCA do in Mozambique”. This meant that contracts are offered on the basis of public tenders, and that each bid is rigorously assessed “on the basis of a series of transparent directives”.
She suggested that this “could serve as an example for other procurement processes led by the government, so as to promote the same levels of transparency and accountability”.
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Contract Signed for Nacala Dam