The Angolan government intends to increase this year to over 26,000 from 16,000 the number of households in the city of Cuito, capital of the central Angolan province of Bié, served by waterworks built there with money borrowed from China, Angop reports.

The Angolan state-run news agency says the waterworks cost US$39.2 million and opened last October.

The waterworks take in water from Cuquema river, treat it at the rate of 648 cubic metres an hour, and then distribute it, the report says.

The Bié water and sanitation agency is working out how to bring a supply of potable water to 60,000 households by 2025, Angop says.