Mozambique: Government promises emergency repairs to main highway – AIM

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Mozambique: Government promises emergency repairs to main highway – AIM

7:01 CAT | 25 Jul 2022

File photo: O País

The Mozambican government has decided to push ahead with emergency repairs to the worst stretches of the country’s main north-south highway (EN1), while it is mobilizing resources for a comprehensive rehabilitation of what is regarded as the backbone of the country’s road network.

Speaking on Friday, at the closing session of a meeting of his Ministry’ Coordinating Council, held in Matibane in the northern province of Nampula, Public Works Minister Carlos Mesquita said “the current situation of EN1, which the Coordinating Council considered a national crisis, merited far-reaching debates at this meeting where our sector, as a whole, was urged to bring solutions for intervening in the highway, which should be regarded as a visiting card of our country”.

Mesquita noted that the participants at the meeting challenged the National Roads Administration (ANE) not only to bring solutions to improve conditions on EN1, but also to step up the use of technological solutions for maintaining roads, particularly dirt roads.

The Minister wanted to see a restructuring of ANE, so that it would become more pro-active in its key tasks of road maintenance. The ANE’s provincial delegates “must be committed to ensuring greater rigour in monitoring and maintaining the provincial road networks and explore mechanisms for cooperation with academics and with the Order of Engineers”.

Turning to water supply, the Coordinating Council concluded that although there have been advances in the expansion of water services, greater dynamism and speed is required to ensure that the water systems are more sustainable.

Mesquita said that the budget for water and sanitation is running at a deficit of 26 per cent – the shortfall is 17 billion meticais (about 266 million US dollars, at the current exchange rate).

Source: O País