Lobito - The municipal administrator of Lobito (Benguela), Carlos Pacatolo, on Monday defended the need to build new classrooms to guarantee access to education for more children.
Sworn in five days ago, the administrator made these statements while speaking at the solemn celebration of the 111th anniversary of the city of Lobito, which is being commemorated today under the slogan: ‘Lobito, September is ours’.
Carlos Pacaloto, it is necessary to prepare children in a conscious and appropriate way, to guarantee the continuity of the achievements already made and to build foundations for future generations.
‘To meet this challenge, we need to join forces and turn it into a driving force through a campaign to donate school supplies that will be distributed to the neediest communities,’ he said.
He asked residents to join the administration, individually, collectively or as a company, in order to achieve this ‘dream’ of preparing children who are already enrolled, but have difficulties going to school with the necessary materials.
The second challenge, he pointed out, relates to the ‘blatant’ need to organise the informal and street vending that takes place in the city.
He explained that the municipality of Lobito has received the largest financial package of emergency works underway in the province's coastal towns.
‘Little by little, our streets are gaining more dignity. We can already see an acceptable face that makes us all proud,’ he said.
That's why, he said, ‘in order to make better use of these opportunities, we need, with courage, friendship and respect, but above all with a lot of love for our neighbours, to help reorganise informal commerce, so that it doesn't continue with the dispersion that we see every day’.
He also referred to the increase in the water supply to the upper zone, emphasising the reinforcement of the collection capacity.
‘We're going to install new pipes with greater absorption capacity and more power to pump the water, especially in the upper part of the city, where it's more difficult,’ he said.
The administrator estimated that 60 to 70 per cent of the city's population lives in the upper zone, which is why services and infrastructures have to be brought there, to avoid the area becoming a dormitory and causing problems in terms of urban traffic in the lower zone.
To prevent this problem, he suggested ‘taking life upstairs’ to better manage urban mobility.
He also invited residents to joyfully, gradually and productively transform the day-to-day life of the city of flamingos, which was once considered ‘Angola's parlour’.
The municipality of Lobito covers 2,700 square kilometres and has an estimated population of around half a million inhabitants.TC/CRB/DAN/DOJ
