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File photo: Deutsche Welle
The Mozambican Public Works Minister Joao Machatine on Saturday revealed that maintenance work on the country’s north-south highway (EN1) will begin in about six weeks.
Speaking in an interview with AIM, the Minister explained that the work will cover the section between Pambara in the southern province of Inhambane and Caia in the central province of Sofala. This covers a distance of 696 kilometres.
Interviewed at the end of a working visit to the northern province of Nampula, Machatine said this section of the EN1 is in a highly degraded state which makes it difficult to drive on. This leads to damaged vehicles and cargo.
Machatine added that Friday was the deadline for receiving proposals from companies bidding to work on the 123-kilometre long section between Pambara and the Save River. The deadline for bids for the section on to Caia closes on 27 July. He added that the winners of the tenders will be publicly announced.
Since the state does not have the funds to pay for the regular maintenance needed, the roads deteriorate until they are almost impassable. This has led the government to seek a different solution which is more likely to lead to the roads being properly maintained.
Thus, the Minister talked about the plans to lease out sections of the EN1 to private operators. This would mean that the operator would maintain the road, and collects money from the users through toll gates.
However, he warned that the government needs to be careful in advancing the project in order to protect the public interest. He explained, “we do not want to have a situation where concessions are agreed on and then after a year or two they become a problem for the state. Therefore, we are taking every precaution so decisions are made as fast as possible without leaving us open to disagreements with the concessionaires in the future”.
During his three-day tour of Nampula, Machatine visited the site where the road between Naguema and Mossuril was cut when the bridge was destroyed by floodwaters at the end of last year. Work on rebuilding the bridge will begin before the end of the month at a cost of 11.5 million meticais (about 197,000 US dollars at today’s exchange rate). Machatine added that his ministry is evaluating proposals to Tarmac the road along the entire 25-kilometre long section.
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