The population of the Chiúre district, in Cabo Delgado province, northern Mozambique is going through, one of the most difficult and critical moments of their lives due to the passage of the natural phenomenon cyclone Chido, which destroyed many houses, private residences, infrastructures, energy systems, blocked access roads, etc.
Regarding infrastructure,
the district director of Education, Youth, and Technology in Chiúre, Pedro Gil,
during a meeting with a non-governmental organization after the cyclone’s
passage, spoke about the total destruction of all educational institutions in
the district.
"The education sector
urgently needs support because it has lost everything. Nearly 90% of the
institutions were affected, and at this moment, we do not know where to
start".
"Currently, we are
transferring the Education services from the place where they were operating
because the building is completely destroyed and needs a full
rehabilitation," said the director of that service.
"In this building, there are 52 employees which 46 were directly affected by the cyclone. The education sector in Chiúre has a total of 1501 employees, and 1401 were directly affected, needing psychological support, shelter, and food," he added.
In total, the sector needs
school kits, tents, hygiene materials, and class books. "We are still
assessing the damages in the district, so we cannot give the numbers yet, but
by next week, everything will be organized because our colleagues will be
working this weekend in the administrative posts and villages," said Pedro
Gil, the district education director in Chiúre.
In addition to the education
sector, the infrastructure of the Chiúre District Court, the government session
room, the Chiúre Municipal Council building, the Municipal Assembly, and the
office where the Health Director worked were also destroyed.
The electricity sector is
restricted across the district, and there is no power, causing everything to
stop. The two banks, BCI and Millennium BIM, operate with generators, but due
to the destruction, BCI has been without a system since December 16, forcing
its customers to use BCI, which creates long queues of up to 400 people, just
to withdraw 200 meticais, meaning people must wait 24 hours to reach their
turn.
Regarding mobile banking services, we can only say it’s extortion because there is high demand for money, as people need materials to rebuild their shacks, huts, or shelters. People are forced to buy money, which means they are charged additional fees for using the services. The service providers charge five meticais for each note withdrawn.
In other words, for example,
if a person withdraws 300 meticais, they must pay 15 meticais to the service
provider, making life even harder during such a critical time for everyone.
What makes it even more
difficult is the registration of people. The Chido cyclone was severe
throughout the Chiúre district, and everyone is complaining about the
destruction of their homes. Some people left their places and moved to
accommodation centers identified by the authorities, while others preferred to
build something on their land to at least have shelter.
However, everyone suffers
the same hunger, as there is nothing in the neighborhoods. What happens is that
only those staying in schools are listed and benefit from food aid, while those
outside do not receive anything, causing discontent among the people.
In these places, the World
Food Program (WFP) is distributing a kit of 10 kg of rice, 2 liters of oil, and
12.5 kg of peas. (Celestino Carlos)
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