Moz needs $71m for flood relief

2007-03-06 21:39

Maputo - Mozambique needs close to $71m to rebuild after last month's twin disasters of widespread flooding and a devastating cyclone, said a senior government official on Tuesday.

Institute of National Disaster Management director Paulo Zucula said the cash was needed to resettle tens of thousands of people in the middle of the country, where flooding and the storm displaced more than 170 000 people and killed 45 others.

Zucula said the government was not launching an international appeal for aid, but would welcome any help it could get from friendly donors who already support a large part of the southern African state's national budget.

"We are changing our initial focus from the general state budget to attend to the flooding disaster and we are asking the international community to be in solidarity with us since they contribute to our state budget," said Zucula.

The Mozambican government met on Monday with international donors to assess the damage before distributing a document outlying relief priorities and intervention plans.

Require distribution of seeds

Zucula said the country's 2007 state budget sat at $2.8bn, and that a large chunk of it would be directed at post-flood reconstruction efforts, forcing cutbacks in other areas unless help is offered.

He said more money could be needed because the current estimate did not cover the education sector, which saw many schools flooded or hit by the cyclone's heavy winds, as well as ongoing relief efforts for people forced by floods into evacuation centres.

"We have to feed about 140 000 people in accommodation centres for some time and build their homes ... we need assistance in food aid, because the affected people were already facing food shortages shortly before the disaster," said Zucula.

Cyclone Favio hit Mozambique on February 22, tearing across the central part of the country and causing widespread damage.

The region had already been struggling with floods in the Zambezi River valley, which swamped 80 000 hectares of crops, or about two percent of the cultivated area in Mozambique.

The government hopes some of what has been lost can be recovered in the second sowings, but Zucula said this would require distribution of seeds and other help.

- Reuters