LUANDA, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Manuel Homem, the governor of Angola's Luanda Province, has said that Luanda needs more education and healthcare infrastructure to meet the growing population's needs and ensure that people have the necessary living conditions.
According to Homem's speech on Thursday at the Oscar Ribas University in Luanda, Angola has a high birth rate, and Luanda is among the regions where the rate is rapidly increasing.
Luanda Province, home to the national capital city of Luanda, has the highest population concentration in the country, with over 9 million people residing in an area of 18,826 square kilometers, according to an update released last year by Angola's National Institute of Statistics.
Luanda Province needs over 1,200 schools to accommodate 1.5 million children currently not enrolled in the education system, the governor said, emphasizing that despite having over 3,747 schools in Luanda, the number is still insufficient to meet the demand.
The existing healthcare infrastructure in Luanda is also inadequate, Homem said, adding that he plans to expand healthcare facilities to over 200 units in the next five years.
Regarding access to water and basic sanitation, he considered it the "greatest challenge" as the water distribution capacity in Luanda is currently at 30 percent, "far below the requirements," and that the basic sanitation infrastructure only covers 3 percent, meaning that the drainage ditches built to address water runoff needs are still minimal.
Homem said a budget of 356 billion Angolan kwanzas (about 659 million U.S. dollars) was allocated for Luanda this year, but the province requires four times more funding to address its numerous needs. ■