Bus fares to increase in Maputo and Matola soon

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Bus fares to increase in Maputo and Matola soon

3:16 CAT | 25 Apr 2017

File photo / People try to get into a mini-bus used for public transportation. In Mozambique, they are known as 'Chapas'

A new transport subsidy model is being set up at the request of the Mozambican Federation of Road Transport Associations (Fematro). The organisation admits that the subsidy model currently in operation has not been of much of benefit to either carriers or passengers.

“This proposal to change the subsidy, currently paid in monetary amounts to the carriers, comes from Fematro, because we came to the conclusion that the money being paid to the operators did not bring visible results to either the operators or the passengers, much less to the government whose money it is,” Fematro president Castigo Nhamane says.

Nhamane explained that the organisation made the request for its own good. “If we were not satisfied, we would not have signed this memorandum with the government,” he said, promising that, with the entry into service of an additional 300 buses, transport conditions would soon improve.

The government is working on the assumption that there will soon be an increase in fares in the city and province of Maputo and in Matola, Boane and Marracuene. The fare rise is intended with to make the carrier business viable. Tariff revision proposals are still under discussion and will be presented soon, according to the Minister of Transport and Communications.

“Very probably and everything indicates that yes, there should be some tariff readjustments. There is recognition that the tariffs currently in force, seven and nine meticais, are far below transport costs, so they should be adjusted, but this will require due consideration, decision and discussion on the part of the various relevant bodies,” Minister Carlos Mesquita. says

A source close to the process told “O País Económico” that the proposals are already practically approved and will come into force as soon as the first batch of 50 buses arrives in Maputo In 45 days, under the new transport subsidy model.

A rise in transport prices would raise the cost of living, already considered quite high.

At present, passenger transport costs between seven and nine meticais, a rate that, despite being considered low, has affected many passenger transport users through the shortenings of routes, obliging them to make several connections to reach their destinations, which in fact makes urban transport more expensive. The government has promised to strengthen enforcement measures to address the practice.

The decisions come days after President Nyusi visited companies supervised by the Ministry of Transport and Communications and formed a poor impression of their management and professionalism. The president visited Maputo Municipal Passenger Transport Company and Mozambique Airlines, among other ministry departments.

Source: O País