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March 17, 2005
Peace in Angola But No Potable Water
According to a report by Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), part of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Luanda, the capital of Angola is a city built for half a million people is today home to more than four million, most of them sardined into ramshackle shantytowns perched precariously on top of rubbish heaps.
While there has been peace in Angola since April 2002, the fact remains that there is little formal employment and few other opportunities to earn a living in the countryside, so most Luanda residents have decided to stay put, despite the poor conditions.
Many of the capital's wealthy Angolans and expatriate businessmen and their families can afford generators and bottled water, but the vast majority of people struggle along with little access to basic services like water and sanitation, while health and education border on being luxuries.
The UN Children's Fund estimates that half Angola's 13 million people do not have access to clean, safe drinking water, and Luandans say although there are a host of other problems, the lack of water is their number one concern.
Clean drinkng water has become more expensive than motor oil.
A trend?
Posted by Stephen Betheil at March 17, 2005 07:32 PM
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