(25 Feb 2000) English/Nat
The President of the flood-stricken country of Mozambique has spoken about his country's plight and the international efforts to relive the suffering of the ill and homeless.
The country was struck by two weeks of rain and a cyclone which has submerged entire villages and washed away roads and bridges.
The stagnant waters now threaten to cause a malaria epidemic.
The social and economic damage could be massive.
Mozambique has been hailed recently as an African economic success story following years of civil war.
After two weeks of flooding, the costs of restoring destroyed crops and repairing infrastructure could well be economically crippling.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Q: Are you satisfied that food is getting to where it's needed?"
"A: It is going to where it is needed but of course we may have many more people who are not reached because the ,means we have to transport are very scarce. We took time also to discover where the people where and where they were most in need to set up the priorities but as time passes we are reaching everybody.
"Q: What about the medical supplies?
"A: Were are receiving medicines but there are the same problems of distribution. But things are getting better although the numbers are growing of those suffering from malaria. This growing number includes not only those in the flood but also others because the mosquitoes are all over. So the needs are much bigger that the calculation reported to the number of people affected."
SOUNDBITE: Joaquim Alberto Chissano, President of Mozambique
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Q: What has been the response from the international community?"
"A: The response has been so far good. We've just launched a more comprehensive appeal so we'll have to wait a few days to see how the international community is going to respond to this last appeal which is more comprehensive. In previous days they were just helping without knowing exactly what the needs were. So we cannot complain much because I think the response has been good. "
SUPER CAPTION: Joaquim Alberto Chissano, President of Mozambique
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Its a very big setback. We'll have to work hard to compensate in the years to come so that our programme is not jeopardised by this. For this year we'll have to adjust ourselves to these circumstances. You can see yourself, looking at the scope of the damage and the number of people affected and the broken infrastructure that it is a great loss. "
SOUNDBITE: Joaquim Alberto Chissano, President of Mozambique
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