The Cafu Canal, in Cunene, a southern province affected by cyclical droughts, cost US$137 million and was inaugurated on April 4, 2022, but less than a year later heavy rainfall caused the displacement of plates in one of the sections of the General conduit channel of Cafu.
For the South Platform, "it is not fair to attribute the blame to the rains", because it lacked "basic work" and defends the opening of a criminal investigation process to identify and hold accountable those directly involved in the project and construction of the work (from Cafu Channel).
At the same time, "a participatory evaluation of this experience by an independent entity" should be carried out.
The platform, made up of six civil society organizations, recalls that a few days after the inauguration, animals were drowned and the population could not pass through at some points "because the creators of the work forgot to put up a crosswalk that would allow citizens to cross to the other side of the channel".
They also criticize "the urgency" with which the work was carried out, inaugurated in an election year, which could justify the absence of technical support studies, but above all, due to the fact that it did not include the knowledge and experiences of local communities.
The South Platform emphasizes that it drew the attention of the executive and international institutions "to be serious in approaching the challenge of climate change and managing its impacts", which did not happen.
"In a work of this magnitude, in addition to the land quotas, it was essential to hear from the locals the behavior of rain and river water. The lack of this assumption ended up affecting the circulation of rainwater that broke with the canal walls", they emphasize in a statement to which Lusa had access.
"Due to the short period of time for the work, and knowing that we have not yet reached the peak of the rains, we can see that it does not have the necessary consistency for sandy terrain like that of Cunene", says the document signed by coordinators João Malavidenle (Omunga) and Pio Wacussunga (Building Communities Association).
"We, Plataforma Sul, have always warned President João Lourenço's executive that the problem of drought in southern Angola must be seen as a State problem, to the detriment of political programs that aim to attract votes over the suffering of the people who seem not to having an end in sight, always with a view to learning to live with the drought and the effects of climate change and not, as reflected in the dominant discourse, of 'combating drought'. The Cafu canal is an example of political populism", they criticize .
The communiqué stresses that, instead of fighting the drought, it is necessary to learn to "live with the phenomenon and direct efforts and financial resources to help other problems that vulnerable communities face, such as lack of schools, health units and other social services.
In an interview with the Public Television of Angola (TPA), the Minister of Energy and Water, João Baptista Borges acknowledged that there was a "failure", but guaranteed that the State will not pay for the damage, with the contractor company assuming the costs of repair. of the Cafu Channel.
Meanwhile, the parliamentary group of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), urgently requested a parliamentary hearing to question the ministers involved in the construction of the Canal do Cafu, partially destroyed by the rains, about hiring contractors.
In its press release, the UNITA parliamentary group refers that it intends to hear the ministers of Energy and Water and of Construction and Public Works and the provincial governor of Cunene on "the entire contracting process that led to the choice of contractors, their capacity technique and evidence given in the national and international market, who were the inspectors of the work, their suitability and technical competence, as well as criteria for certifying the quality of the material applied".
The UNITA parliamentary group expressed "its enormous indignation" because "less than 12 months after its inauguration, the Canal do Cafu easily gave in to the rains".
