Prior to MAG’s clearance of the mined area surrounding the city’s Bairro Bomba water plant, Luena’s 300,000 population had been forced to use contaminated water direct from the local river, resulting in high rates of diarrhoea and other waterborne related diseases.
 |
|
The water pumping station |
 |
|
One of three tanks which together are filled with 150,000 litres of water twice daily |
Following the end of the country’s 27-year civil war, at the request of the provincial and community authorities, MAG deminers cleared 14,700 square metres of land in 2002, after which the site was handed back to the authorities.
The work, funded by the US State Department's Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, saw the removal of 12 anti-personnel mines.
Now, as the only water filtering, storing and pumping system in the city, it provides the whole of Luena with filtered drinking water, filling three large water tanks with 150,000 litres of water twice daily. The filtered water is pumped into the water piping system where it comes out taps in those houses connected to the system.
On top of the benefits to the city as a whole, the pumping station also provides jobs to 14 local men, who have an average of seven dependents. Each of these employees has been granted a 50 square metre piece of land to use as a small garden on the site for cultivating crops such as cabbage, sugarcane, lettuce, carrots and tomatoes.
One of the beneficiaries is 29-year-old mother-of-nine Odette Jina. She retuned to Bomba Bairro in August 2007 having fled during the conflict – over half the bairro's estimated 4,300 population are returnees – and currently lives 40 metres away from the plant, where her husband Carlos works.
Like his colleagues, Carlos has been given a plot of land on the site for cultivating crops such as cabbage, lettuce, onions, carrots and tomatoes.
 |
|
Carlos and his wife Odette are making money by selling the crops they grow on the cleared land |
Says Odette: “People living here never used to have access to this area or the opportunity to use it for a garden. My life and those of my children are totally free, because we have access to the demined area and we use it for vegetable growing. Not only that, but also we now have clean water for bathing, drinking, washing and cooking.
"We are also making money by selling the crops that we grow on the cleared land. We are very grateful to MAG for their work and hope that they will be able to assist us more with clearing other areas where we’re unable to carry out our activities.”
Approximately 100 households in the direct surrounding vicinity of the
plant, have been granted access to the site to use the borehole to get
water to use for drinking, washing, bathing and watering vegetable
gardens. They take buckets and which are filled from the well.
The community has also constructed houses on ground that was previously mined.
 |
|
Forty-two-year-old Merciana Kasinda lives close to the cleared water pumping station. She works at market to support herself and her 11 dependents, and grows her crops in a garden she irrigates with water from the plant. "I lived here when the area as mined," she says. "It stopped us from working in our gardens and we did not have fresh water. Since MAG cleared this land my life has improved enormously because my family and I have good crop production. We are in good health now because we can eat from our own garden that we cultivate ourselves." |
Background to the conflict
Bairro Bomba was mined in 1986 and ‘87 by government forces, the main objective to protect the vital water pumping station that provided water to the city of Luena. It had a large symbolic and practical function as the station provided water to the whole town.
The government forces laid the mines as a protective barrier around the plant hoping to defend it from attacks from UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola) forces. This is similar to barrier minefields elsewhere in the city and the tanks and artillery positions in many more locations around Luena.
In 1992, a famous 45-day battle was fought in Luena. UNITA forces struck hard in an attempt to take over the city. The whole population of Bairro Bomba fled into central Luena for safety from the heavy gunfire. The government forces and the population fought back until they won the battle and regained control of the full area, including Bomba.
A pocket of peace followed, but upon return in the area the water plant was no longer functioning. Unfortunately, the combatants who had laid the mines disappeared and took with them the knowledge of the location of the mines. Due to the fear of the mines nobody was able to access to area for water or to repair the installation. It remained unused for the ten years to follow.
Links:
» More on MAG's work in Angola
» Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement webpage
MAG's work in Angola is currently funded by: Adopt-a-Minefield; DFID (UK Department for International Development); Guernsey Overseas Aid Commission; Luanda International School, Angola; Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, US Department of State; Royal Netherlands Government.
2 June 08
