Icolo e Bengo – The socio-economic development of the municipality of Icolo e Bengo is “inevitable”, as it has enormous agricultural potential, an excellent industrial park (with the possibility of rapid expansion) and 62 kilometers of paved road connecting the town of Catete (administrative seat) to the city of Luanda.

By Cláudio Neto, ANGOP Journalist

This assessment comes from the municipal administrator of Icolo e Bengo, Isabel Kudiqueba dos Santos, made during an interview with ANGOP in which she attests that the region has the necessary conditions to have all types of services and guarantee its inhabitants a better life.

In office since October 2023, Kudiqueba dos Santos is optimistic about the district's fate: 'Our intention is to continue the slogan 'Icolo e Bengo towards development' and attract more investors to the municipality, in what is also known as the land where the first President of Angola and National Hero, António Agostinho Neto, was born, and make it a good place to live'.

As they say, progress is always expected and Icolo e Bengo, with an area of ​​3,819 square kilometers and a young population, estimated at 131,268 inhabitants, is no exception. Nowadays, the municipality is experiencing significant advances in the sectors of education, health, transport, access roads, communications and energy and water.

Below is the full interview:

ANGOP - Madam administrator, being new to the position, what are the challenges listed for the continued progress of Icolo e Bengo?

Isabel Nicolau Kudiqueba dos Santos (IKS) - Efforts for the coming years are to work towards improving the conditions of residents. We have to remove the population from greater dependence on the State, promoting self-employment and increasing family income with assertive policies that meet the reality of the municipality.

ANGOP - Which specific sectors will receive the most attention?

IKS - The sectors to highlight are agriculture, education, health, tourism and energy and water. I am proud to say that Icolo e Bengo is one of the most beautiful municipalities in Luanda and I invite people to visit it and discover the tourist potential it has, such as the Dr. António Agostinho Neto Cultural Center (in Catete town), the Catete Municipal Hospital (built in colonial times), the railway station, the village of Caxicane and the bridge over Kwanza River, in Cabala.

Likewise, there are other sites, such as the site of the Calomboloca massacre and the Tocoistas temple, in the center of Catete. The municipality has a two-star hotel and seven tourist villages, two of which are currently under construction. The exploration and enhancement of tourist corners is a way of attracting potential investors in this sector.

ANGOP - Icolo e Bengo is known as the breadbasket of the province of Luanda. Peasants are asking for improvements in access roads from the countryside to the main roads. What do you have to say, madam administrator?

IKS - As I mentioned, the work on the access roads, with earthworks on the roads (secondary and tertiary), for their improvement will be done in accordance with the budget that the municipality will receive for the 2024 management, which is set in order of 12 billion 635 million 106 thousand and 65 kwanzas.

Now, if there is any central-level guidance project, such as the Integrated Plan for Intervention in Municipalities (PIIM), in its second phase, we think that 70 percent of the eventual budget will be allocated to improving access roads.

ANGOP - Health is crucial to the progress we want in the municipality, what are the subsequent steps for its continuous improvement?

IKS - The municipality is doing very well, I come from a previous administration, where health centers were not budgeted for. Here all our centers are budgeted. The municipal hospital is also budgeted and, on the other hand, we don't even have a lack of medicines. Despite this, we will not stop, the work to improve medical and pharmaceutical assistance will continue.

The infrastructure of health centers and posts will be expanded and special attention will be given to the Municipal Hospital. In this case, the Municipal Hospital needs intervention to improve medical assistance services, increase beds and specialist doctors in various areas. The construction of a morgue is planned.

ANGOP - So is the health situation in Icolo e Bengo okay?

IKS - It is never completely okay, today we are in the 21st century, it is our desire to have Telemedicine at Icolo e Bengo. We are working towards that. And also as part of the fight against poverty, we are cleaning up a space where a health post will be built in Bela Vista, specifically within Centrality KM 44. Currently, Icolo e Bengo have 24 health posts, five health centers and one municipal hospital, staffed by 15 doctors and 280 nurses.

ANGOP - How did you find the education sector in Icolo e Bengo?

IKS - We are never well, there are always children being born and we will increase classrooms and improve school infrastructure. We still have schools with two and three classrooms. Yes, we have projects to build new schools, within the scope of PIIM. On the other hand, here in Icolo e Bengo, the social partners (entrepreneurs) are strong. As an example, a businessman built two classrooms and another health center. At municipal level, there is a tendency for local businessmen to contribute to social projects, because where there is insufficiency on the part of the administration, we count on them.

Nowadays, Icolo e Bengo has 77 public schools, 52 private primary education, I and II cycles, which allowed this academic year to enroll 47,536 students, provided by 1,144 teachers.

ANGOP - The municipality of Icolo e Bengo is privileged by some industries (Ceramics, mineral water and cement), what is the situation with youth employability?

IKS - According to available information, staff recruitment is local, with preference given to youth labor residing in the municipality, with priority given to those who live close to the company, hence there is no “screaming” feeling of lack of employment for employees. young people, in Icolo e Bengo. Recently, one of the mineral water companies set up a new production line and this, consequently, increased the job offer for young people in the municipality.

ANGOP - Still on the path to employability, will the project to deliver kits (work tools) to young people continue?

IKS - This is another ongoing step towards the employability of young people. We are looking at how to improve to achieve the success we want, although some kits are discontinued. We have to study the criteria for delivering it to young people, opting for those who are already carrying out the activity, and we help them grow and consequently increase their workforce.

ANGOP- Regarding the Identification and Civil Registration sector, what do you have to say?

IKS - The reality here is that many residents from other areas of Luanda choose Icolo e Bengo to resolve issues of this kind. That is great (…)

ANGOP – Icolo e Bengo is home to a Park named after a heroine (Deolinda Rodrigues), which appears to be degraded and abandoned...

IKS - No (…) it has our well-cared-for alligator and it seems to be the best-loved alligator, called Chico, who is fed every Friday of each week. On the other hand, regarding the rehabilitation of the space, we have an approved proposal from a national company that will begin work on the rehabilitation of that leisure place. The work will include general improvement, replacing the grass, painting and improving the metal structures and seats.

ANGOP - Is there any subdivision program in the municipality of Icolo e Bengo?

IKS – Not yet. We are in the diagnostic phase to do something more concise.

ANGOP - Is the Zango 8000 causing problems?

IKS – The problem is general; they are not issues that cannot be resolved. There was a subdivision there and we are taking care of everything, as there is overlap, complaints from peasant women, there is the perimeter of the new Dr. António Agostinho Neto International Airport, where it should not be built and we are here to do everything in search of the desired solutions.

Geography

Icolo e Bengo is a city and municipality in the province of Luanda. According to projections, it has an estimated population of 131,268 inhabitants and a territorial area of ​​3,819 km2. It is located in the east of the province, being limited to the north by the municipality of Dande, to the east by the municipality of Cambambe, to the south by Quiçama and to the west by Viana and Cacuaco.

The municipality of Icolo e Bengo is subdivided into five communes, namely the town of Catete (headquarters) and the urban communes-districts of Bom Jesus, Cabiri, Cassoneca and Caculo Cahango.

Economy

The municipality of Icolo e Bengo has three ceramic factories (brick manufacturing), cement, mineral water, juices and biscuits factories, and a banking network with five commercial branches as well.

It has 46 agricultural cooperatives, made up of 3,800 peasants. In 2022, the municipality had a harvest of 39 thousand tons of various products, including cassava, bananas, corn, peanut, tomatoes, potatoes and other products.

Infrastructure

Icolo e Bengo, nowadays, is one of the most eye-catching and chosen by many citizens to live in as it has the centralities of 44 and Zango 5 (8000), as well as the construction of the new Dr. António Agostinho Neto International Airport, recently opened by the President of the Republic, João Lourenço.

These infrastructures are desirable and pique the curiosity of many citizens eager to make their lives easier in terms of quality, well-being and traveling abroad and living in an area with socially acceptable standards.

Amid the emergence of new social and economic ventures in a dispersed manner, prestigious to Angolan society, the municipality of Icolo e Bengo “escapes” little by little from its traditional historical housing landmarks, giving rise to the evolution of a healthy cohabitation between the countryside and the city.

Profile of the municipal administrator

Isabel Nicolau Kudiqueba dos Santos, was born on December 25, 1976, in the province of Uíge. She has a degree in Psychology from the Higher Institute of Educational Sciences (ISCED) Luanda, a postgraduate degree in Management and School Administration from the Higher Institute of Educational Sciences of Portugal, and a Master's degree in Educational and Pedagogical Administration from ISCED.

She was the National Pedagogical Coordinator of Literacy at the Hoji-ya-Henda brigade, between 2002/2013, head of the Youth Area Section at the Provincial Directorate of Youth and Sports of Luanda, from 2005 to 2014, from 2006 to 2009 she worked as a teacher at the Higher Institute of Social Services.

She was previously administrator of the Urban District of Vila Verde, Municipality of Belas and currently serves as municipal administrator of Icolo e Bengo, province of Luanda. CLAU / AJQ / IZ/DOJ