Pessene (L 8)

Name: Pessene

Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201007200864.html

Pessene — Residents of the administrative post of Pessene, in Moamba district, Maputo province, complained on Monday to President Armando Guebuza of rustling and shortage of water.

These complaints were presented during a rally Guebuza addressed as part of his "open and inclusive presidency" to the Maputo province.

Pessene is characterized by poor soil, which renders agriculture unsustainable, but it is good for livestock farming. Currently there are 3,700 head of cattle and 9,500 goats in Pessene. However, farmers have been facing the problem of stock theft, and some of the criminals come from outside the administrative post.

Another associated problem is that even when the victims manage to catch the rustlers, it takes a long walk to reach the nearest police station and during this period, the criminals often manage to escape.

One somewhat desperate suggestion was to replace oxen by donkeys, since nobody in Mozambique eats donkeys, and there is thus no risk that they will be stolen.

Shortage of water is another very serious problem and, in the recent past, Pessene relied on supplies by water tankers sent from Maputo. There has been some improvement in this matter, but the residents are asking for more water sources.

Besides rustling and shortage of water, Pessene residents also asked Guebuza for the expansion of the electricity grid, and improvement of access roads, and of the transport system in general, because people in that area depend almost exclusively on the train to and from Maputo for transport.

In response, Guebuza acknowledged the importance of the concerns presented during the rally, but he also pointed out that despite all these difficulties, problems are being gradually solved, and there have been achievements.

"We have done a lot, but we still have a long way to go. But our small achievements, so far, are encouraging us and give us the strength to proceed', he said.

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Guebuza, whose speech was mainly on the importance of preserving the environment and fighting against poverty, said that the Pessene of today is different from what it was in the past. Much had changed, "and in the future many more things will change and the agents of this change are the residents themselves", he stressed.

As for the problems posed during the rally, Guebuza told the participants that there will be solutions, because the fight against poverty is the government's priority, and decentralization, that gave origin to the creation of the local Consultative Councils, that play an important role in the development agenda, is one way the government has adopted to fight against poverty.

This was the first time a Mozambican head of state had ever visited Pessene. But Guebuza said he knew the place well from his childhood, when he used to visit uncles living there.


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