Ombadja – The President of the Republic, João Lourenço, inaugurated on Monday, in Ombadja municipality, Cunene province, the Cafu collection and pumping station.
The first of a batch of five projects of the Angolan government, created as part of the programme of structural actions to combat drought in Cunene, it will benefit 235,000 people from the municipalities of Ombadja, Cuanhama and Namacunde.
Valued at 44.3 billion kwanzas, it will also make it possible to water 250,000 animals and irrigate 5,000 hectares of agricultural fields.
The contract to build the canal was decided after a visit by the President of the Republic to the Cacimbas( artisanal borehole) in Ombala Yo Mungo, Ombadja municipality, in May 2019, at the time affected by severe drought.
In this system, metallic structures of the suction chamber and water intake zone, electric substation building, with three power generators with a capacity of one megawatt and one-dimensional reservoir, and solar panels capable of generating 1.5 megawatts of energy were installed.
The project has an open-air canal, in a length of about 160 km.
The main canal is 47 km long, from the Cafu station to Ombala yo Mungo, and two others that link the municipalities of Ndombondola (55 km) and Namacunde (53 km).
The project has 30 chimpacas ( water reservoir), which are 100 metres long, 50 metres wide, five to six metres deep and water storage capacity ranging from 25,000 to 30,000 cubic metres.
The project took into account an environmental impact study, which includes a Southern African Development Community (SADC) protocol, as well as sharing information with Namibia.
The work, which was carried out by the company Sinohydro, provided direct employment for 3,477 workers.
Source: Angola Press News Agency