Angolan Minister of Energy and Water, João Baptista Borges (L) and Cabinda governor Marcos Nhunga attended the inauguration ceremony of the water supply project. (PHOTO: XINHUA)

By WANG Xiaoxia

A water supply project, undertaken by China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC), went live in Cabinda, Angola on June 30. It has a daily capacity of 50,000 cubic meters and is expected to benefit 600,000 local people.

As the largest livelihood project by Angola in Cabinda province, it includes water storage, water distribution facilities and 74 water supply points, covering 24,000 households in Cabinda or 92 percent of the province's residential areas.

"We no longer have to fetch water from a river 3 kilometers away before dawn," said Jose, one of hundreds of local residents at the public water supply point who cheered when the tap opened up.

The 24/7 supply of tap water will not only greatly relieve the water shortage in the area, but also has a positive effect on local industry, education, culture, and port transportation, said Marcos Nhunga, governor of Cabinda, who also expressed his gratitude to Chinese enterprises for their important role in the construction of the project.

In addition, CRCC employed more than 10,000 local residents and trained a large number of skilled workers in the construction process, said Gu Jianling, project manager from CRCC.