Mozambique
The settlements pattern of Mozambique reflects its colonial
history; infrastructure was most developed across the country from Salisbury and
Johannesburg to the city ports of Beira and Maputo, with no complete routes from
north to south within the country. In the north, Niassa Province in particular
was virtually inaccessible, the only roads being built for military purposes
against the FRELIMO forces. The south was a source of migrant labour for South
Africa. It is now planned to radically restructure the physical environment, but
this has to be done with a minimum of resources. At the time of independence
there were hardly any qualified Mozambican professionals, and, although the
country is rich in natural resources, 85% of the population live as subsistence
farmers, sometimes unable to meet their own basic needs.
Physical planning priorities have been established by the party,
FRELIMO, which is also re-organizing local government. For example, the City of
Maputo now has an assembly elected by delegates from neighbourhoods, schools,
factories and other organizations. The assembly provides direction to the five
departments of the Executive Council which administers the city. Neighbourhoods
also have community-based committees called "Dynamizing Groups" with some
responsibilities for management, and neighbourhoods are further organized into
Block Committees with special responsibilities, or Sectoral Committees with
specific responsibilities such as health. Some urban settlements have been
successfully improved with almost no outside resources using self-help organized
through Block Committees. In rural areas, development is focused on self-help in
communal villages. The Training Case Study from Mozambique deals with two levels
of training which are related:
- Acquisition of skills and
mobilization for self-help in the community.
- Training programmes for
physical planning
staff.
