Monday 6 June 2011

POVERTY: Mozambican President insisted the fight against poverty requires hard work

Maputo — Mozambican President Armando Guebuza on Thursday insisted that the fight against poverty requires hard work, and a spirit of solidarity and mutual support among Mozambicans.

Addressing a rally in the administrative post of Lumbo, in Mozambique Island district, during his "open and inclusive presidency" to the northern province of Nampula, Guebuza said that all citizens are called upon to make a contribution every day, and at the end of the day each of them should ask themselves what they have done in the previous 24 hours.
"There are those who don't do anything, because they want everything done for them", he added. "But the struggle against poverty must be waged by everyone".
A precondition for success was to keep the country at peace. "This struggle cannot be won if some people are building while others are destroying", Guebuza warned.
Guebuza also took part in a tree planting ceremony in Lumbo - and was critical of the use of exotic species. "In the community forest, I saw eucalyptus", he said, "But we must improve our work by planting trees that are native to our country. In this work we can involve young people and children, because the forest is very important for the community".
He urged Lumbo residents to plant casuarinas and other native plants, which adapt easily to local climatic conditions, and will prevent soil erosion.
When local people were asked to raise their problems, one of their complaints was against the head of the administrative post, Amade Salimo, who was accused of lack of respect for the population, and of using the District Development Fund (FDD) for his own benefit.
A man named Manuel Ali claimed that Salimo had used him to promote his campaign in internal elections in the ruling Frelimo Party. Salimo had supposedly promised to give Ali a bicycle, in the event that he won the election, but later he refused to honour this promise. Another resident, Augusto Bolacha, accused officials of the local Agriculture Directorate of extorting 3,300 meticais (about 110 US dollars) from him. This was an illegal charge for registering a plot of land which had already been registered during the colonial epoch. The excuse from the officials was that the money was to pay for marks to demarcate the land, but this job was never done.
Other speakers asked for more health facilities, more transport services, and the rehabilitation of the local water supply system. Guebuza said that all these matters would be studied and investigated in order to take the correct decisions.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201106040080.html

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