UN-HABITAT will collaborate with the municipality of Beira and the BASF Social Foundation to improve living conditions of slum dwellers in Munhava slum, in the city of Beira, building a Multifunctional Clean Energy Centre (MCEC).
 The new infrastructure will allow increased access to clean energy, better sanitation and safe drinking water for those people living in the Munhava slum. The facility will also provide livelihood opportunities for vulnerable youth who will be responsible for its daily operation and management. It will be designed to utilize locally available renewable energy resources (human waste, solar energy and wind) for value addition including public toilets connected to biogas digesters and solar panels installed on the centre’s roof for lighting and for charging lanterns for domestic lighting to replace kerosene lamps. A playground, lit by energy produced in the centre, will be annexed.
The project will be mainly managed by self-promoting groups of youth in the slum of Munhava selected with and within the community. At least 200 young people will benefit from professional training and will generate sustainable incomes through service management and selling. The duration expected for the construction of the new infrastructure is 24 months, finalizing at the end of 2013. The total cost of the project is around 200,000 USD.
The Mayor of Beira, Mr. Daviz Mbepo Simago, visited Nairobi last 15th and 16th December 2011 to understand how Bio-Centres (public latrines with biogas plant) operate. The Mayor was accompanied during his visit by Mr. Augusto Paulo, Beira Municipal Council Technical Unit; Silva Magaia, representative of UN-HABITAT office in Mozambique; Vincent Kitio and Fredrick Ochieng, representatives of UN-HABITAT Urban Energy Section. |
UN-Habitat in Beira