Water is a precious and increasingly scarce resource, that no country can afford to take for granted. Fortunately, awareness is growing of the importance of conservation and preservation, as reflected in the upsurge in water resource management initiatives and enhanced environmental controls. Meanwhile, recent regulatory restructurings aim to ensure that water infrastructure operates at maximum efficiency – or in some cases, even at all.
As Alberto Galhardo Simoes of Miranda Correia Amendoeira & Associados reports, the situation in Angola is particularly stark. Most of the country lacks water supply and sanitation facilities, and a protracted civil war and mass urban migration have taken a heavy toll on the few existing ramshackle systems, which have slid into disrepair. In the capital Luanda, less than a third of the three million-plus inhabitants have access to piped water; the rest are forced to buy their water from truck-tanks at exorbitant prices.
