Chinese community in Mozambique donates supplies to people affected by floods

MAPUTO, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese community in Mozambique on Wednesday donated a batch of supplies of humanitarian aid to people affected by floods due to days of heavy rainfall in the southern region of the country.

The donation was done through the country's Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction (INGD), with donated goods ranging from 50 tonnes of cereals, and 6,200 liters of cooking oil, to other products including solid food, clothing and blankets, said Cesar Tembe, the national director of the Division of Prevention and Mitigation of INGD, while speaking to the press after the reception of the donation in Maputo, capital of Mozambique.

These victims are people mainly concentrated in several districts of the provinces of Gaza, Inhambane, Sofala and Maputo, said Tembe.

"We have a lot of people who are in need of support, I think this donation will help us to meet the needs we have to support the affected populations," said Tembe, thanking the Chinese community for its support to the Mozambican government for disaster relief.

Huang Weiping, the representative of the Chinese community, said at the reception that the flooding seriously affected the lives of local residents and caused loss of life and destruction of property. "We hope this batch of supplies can help them get through the difficulties and resume normal life as soon as possible," he said.

Tembe appealed to more forces in society to channel their support to those affected. The official noted that the INGD had planned to distribute food kits to assist each family for a period of one month and that seeds and agricultural inputs will also be provided.

According to the official, around 150,000 people had been affected by floods, and 29 accommodation centers were created. Due to the falling of the water level in the local rivers, some of the centers have already started to be deactivated because victims started to return to their original homes.

"For these products from the Chinese community, we are going to make a plan to allocate the products in the accommodation centers created for those affected," said Tembe, adding that the plan will be shared with the donors.