MAPUTO, April 16 (Xinhua) -- The assessment of damage and impact of cyclone Idai will be concluded in three weeks, the Minister of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources, Osvaldo Machatine, said on Tuesday in Maputo during the opening session of the training seminar on Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA).
"It is premature to go ahead with estimates, but the government's aim is for the evaluation process to be based on a universally accepted methodology. The work will be analyzed and consolidated with the partners within the PDNA methodology," said the minister.
According to Machatine, collecting data on the negative impact on the socio-economic sector will serve to outline the priorities in the reconstruction process, as well as to prepare for the international donors' conference to be held at the end of May.
Cyclone Idai caused 608 deaths, affecting more than 1.5 million people, socio-economic infrastructure, and hundreds of thousands of hectares of crops.
The PDNA training was developed by the European Union, the United Nations and the World Bank, which aims to efficiently assess the damage caused by Cyclone Idai and identify ways of allocating funds for reconstruction.
