- Title: Angolans face water shortage as budget cuts affect public services.
- Date: 23rd May 2016
- Summary: LUANDA, ANGOLA (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ADRIANO CORREIA, WATER VENDOR, TRANSPORTING WATER WOMAN WALKING, CARRYING BASIN OF WATER ON HER HEAD VARIOUS OF ADRIANO CORREIA, WATER VENDOR, AND HIS COLLEAGUE OFFLOADING JERRICANS OF WATER ADRIANO LOOKING ON VARIOUS OF WATER VENDOR FILLING JERRICAN WITH WATER (SOUNDBITE) (English) ADRIANO CORREIA, WATER VENDOR SAYING: "It is hard. It is not an easy journey. We have to wake up early in the morning. We then go to search for a place that has clean running water. We buy it from places that have running water in town." (SOUNDBITE) (English) ANTONIO SIMAO BAPTISTA, LUANDA RESIDENT, SAYING: "It is better to shut down the entire Luanda water system. Water is killing children. It is destroying Angolans. All Angolans will die because of the water problem! The water here is dirty. It is not good. It is a state crime." BETO JOSE, BUSINESSMAN AND CUSTOMER AT DRINKS STORE VARIOUS OF BOTTLES OF DRINKING WATER (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) BETO JOSE, BUSINESSMAN, SAYING: "The challenge is that there is no water in the market. Therefore, we have no water in store and this is the problem." (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) WALTER DOS SANTOS, CUSTOMER, SAYING: "I think that now it is easier to buy beer because water has become more expensive than beer." VARIOUS OF BOY FILLING UP JERRICANS WITH WATER VARIOUS OF WATER VENDORS DRINKING WATER FROM HOSE PIPE (SOUNDBITE) (English) TOMAS LOPEZ BUFALA, HEAD OF WATER AND SANITATION, UNICEF ANGOLA, SAYING: "We cannot ensure, we cannot systematically ensure that water provided through the water supply networks to the population or to the water points is being tested regularly, systematically so in most cases water supply is not compliant with WHO standards, standards from the World Health Organization."
- Embargoed: 7th June 2016 15:03
- Keywords: Water Sanitation Shortage Budget cuts Oil Prices Spending
- Location: LUANDA, ANGOLA
- City: LUANDA, ANGOLA
- Country: Angola
- Topics: Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA0014J1339Z
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Twenty five-year-old Adriano Correia makes his way through neighbourhoods in Luanda, Angola, where he delivers water to customers everyday.
Majority of Luanda's 6.3 million people still don't have access to clean tapped water, forcing them to depend on 'Kupapatas' or water vendors, like Adriano, especially now that there is a city-wide water shortage.
"It is hard. It is not an easy journey. We have to wake up early in the morning. We then go to search for a place that has clean running water. We buy it from places that have running water in town," said Adriano.
"It is better to shut down the entire Luanda water system. Water is killing children. It is destroying Angolans. All Angolans will die because of the water problem! The water here is dirty. It is not good. It is a state crime," said Antonio Simao Baptista, a Luanda resident.
On the other side of town, business is not good for Beto Jose, who runs a drinks store. He says he is losing out on sales because of the water shortage.
Finding bottled water from distributors is becoming increasingly difficult and Beto often has to turn clients away.
"The problem is that there is no water in the market. Therefore, we have no water in store and these are the challenges," he said.
"I think that now it is easier to buy beer because water has become more expensive than beer," added Walter Dos Santos, a customer.
Angola is Africa's second-biggest crude producer and third-largest economy, but most of its population lives in poverty, with no access to basic amenities such as power and clean water.
The budget of Africa's second largest oil exporter is 40 percent lower than two years ago, as it grapples with low global prices for crude.
The country recently said that it needed $29 billion for energy and water projects to meet development targets by 2025.
"We cannot ensure, we cannot systematically ensure that water provided through the water supply networks to the population or to the water points is being tested regularly, systematically so in most cases water supply is not compliant with WHO standards, standards from the World Health Organization," said Tomas Lopez Bufala, head of water and sanitation at Unicef, Angola.
Public services including rubbish collection and water sanitation have been overlooked in recent months by contractors who aren't being paid or can't import equipment due to foreign exchange shortages; as a result the country has faced a surge in diseases like malaria, cholera, yellow fever and chronic diarrhoea.
The unsanitary conditions many poorer Angolans have to endure is not the reality in other areas of Luanda, which is one of the world's most expensive cities for foreigners and home to generations of billionaire oil magnates and politicians.
To help improve things the government has announced that it wants to invite the private sector to invest in power and water services.
"There are the two main projects. The objective is to double the capacity of the water supply to achieve a million cubic meters of water in Luanda. At the moment, we have approximately 430,000 cubic meters, which is not enough," said Joao Baptista Borges, Angola's minister for energy and water.
Angola also aims to add 5,000 megawatts of power to its grid over the next decade, much of it from natural gas and hydropower.
Power shortages also hobble efforts to diversify an economy heavily dependent on oil output, which accounts for 40 percent of gross domestic product and more than 95 percent of foreign exchange revenue. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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