Huambo - The President of the Republic, João Lourenço, said on Saturday in the province of Huambo that the number of tourists entering Angola increased significantly after the announcement last year of visa exemption for citizens of 98 countries.
The United States of America, Brazil, Portugal, Cape Verde, Russia and China are among the 98 countries in which Angola no longer requires tourist visas for stays of less than 90 days per year.
The Head of State, who was speaking to the press at the end of his 48th working visit to Huambo province, said that existing information shows that the number of visitors has been large, to the point of forcing the competent services to create capacity to receive and handle a growing number of tourists.
The President added that Angola is big and sometimes we don't see all the tourists, stressing that responsibilities in the sector are shared, with the Executive dealing with bureaucratic issues, such as visa exemption and facilitation.
He said that on the other side is the private sector, which must build and manage hotels and resorts, assisted by the banks, which are responsible for facilitating loans.
The President considered that the state of the roads and the devaluation of the national currency are not impediments to tourism in the country, as tourists do not care about these internal issues.
“For tourists who like adventures, the state of the roads, the roads and the dirt roads turn out to be challenging, in the same way that the devaluation of the currency is not a problem either,” he said.
Asked about secondary and tertiary roads throughout the country, he replied that the matter has been addressed, but there are roads that, because they are not paved, for the most part, require more careful and regular maintenance, due to the wear and tear caused by the rains.
The President recalled that in the last mandate machines were acquired and distributed to the provinces, with the aim of regularly maintaining this type of roads, but only a few made good use of these resources.
For João Lourenço, maintenance is essential, and it is better to have “100 small interventions to repair roads than one major intervention”.
Regarding agricultural inputs, fertilizers and seeds, he explained that the State has made a great effort to guarantee them to peasant families, but that sometimes there are delays in their distribution, damaging sowing.
On the other hand, the President of the Republic focused on the Huambo landfill, highlighting that the project was interrupted for 13 years, with a completion rate of around 90 percent.
For this reason, he stressed, at the moment the work is degraded due to several factors, and, today, the Executive has to spend much more, allocate resources to complete the work, aiming to improve the city's health.
The Executive Power Holder has ended a 48-hour working visit to Huambo on Saturday, which essentially served to inaugurate several social infrastructures, with emphasis on the Integrated Technological Training Center (CINFOTEC), Journalist Training Center (CEFOJOR), Manuel Rui Cultural and Hemodialysis Center.VIC/DOJ
