State-owned Power Construction Corp. of China (PowerChina) says a subsidiary is building a water supply system to ease the shortage of water suffered by the northern Mozambican city of Pemba.

The subsidiary, Sinohydro Bureau 11 Co. Ltd, is laying almost 185 km of pipes, rehabilitating four tanks and building three new ones, according to a written statement issued by PowerChina last Wednesday.

PowerChina says that once the work is done, in June next year, the lives of the 250,000 or more people of Pemba will be improved by a more robust supply of piped water, delivered under greater pressure.

The company was given the contract by the managers of the Mozambican Water Supply Investment and Property Fund, PowerChina says.

Last year the firm’s managers said they were investing US$40 million in increasing the hours per day that piped water is available in Pemba to 16 from six.