Macomia-Mucojo road to reopen next week – minister

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Macomia-Mucojo road to reopen next week – minister

4:43 CAT | 26 May 2022

Photo: Noticias

The road between Macomia and Mucojo in central Cabo Delgado, in one of the areas targeted by armed groups, will reopen next week, the Mozambican Minister of Public Works announced yesterday on a site visit.

Carlos Mesquita called the reopening of the dirt road a “good sign” that he hoped would translate into the return of residents to the Mucojo village and coastal area in northern Mozambique where around 45,000 people used to live.

The insurgency caused a general stampede, but the increased security with the military offensive that has been underway for a year has allowed teams to return to the field to rehabilitate the road, which has been impassable since 2019.

The 45 kilometres between Macomia, the district headquarters (where the paved road starts) and Mucojo is one of the main mobility and trade routes for the thousands of Mozambicans who live in remote communities there.

Carlos Mesquita traversed the route on Tuesday, despite Friday’s deadly attacks on the villages of Nova Zambézia and Nguida on the northern fringes of Macomia.

An entourage of 15 cars, including a police escort, stopped halfway to the sea to greet soldiers on duty there before completing the journey to the headquarters of the Mucojo administrative post.

In Mucojo village, the Minister of Public Works visited infrastructure destroyed by the armed groups: the health centre, primary school, police station and secretariat of the administrative post.

Rehabilitation work on the Macomia-Mucojo road started 17 days ago and, when it is completed, the road between Mucojo and Quiterajo along the coast, another that has not been used for three years, will be the focus of attention.

Cabo Delgado province is rich in natural gas, but has been terrorized since 2017 by armed rebels, with some attacks claimed by the Islamic State extremist group. There are 784,000 internally displaced persons due to the conflict, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), and about 4,000 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registry project.

Since July 2021, an offensive by government troops with the support of Rwanda, which was later joined by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), allowed the recovery of areas where there was a presence of rebels, but their flight has led to new attacks in other districts used. as a passage or temporary refuge.

Source: Lusa