Mozambique: Entire fleet of Nampula city buses vandalised – report

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Mozambique: Entire fleet of Nampula city buses vandalised – report

3:32 CAT | 21 Feb 2024

Photo: O País

There were 40 of them, and they all are defunct, showing evidence of cannibalisation. All are missing their wheels and other accessories. The Municipality of Nampula incurred debts of more than 165 million to acquire them.

It all resulted from the vision of Mahamudo Amurane, the late mayor, who in 2014 turned to a commercial bank so as to lease 40 Tata buses for public passenger transport. The contract was valued at 165,316,432 meticais, at an interest rate of 14.75%.

The last five years have seen the gradual disintegration of the buses to such an extent that there is currently no public passenger transport in Mozambique’s third largest city, the so-called “Capital of the North”.

At the premises of the Municipal Sanitation Company of Nampula, the number of buses mothballed is impressive. They are all propped up on logs and boulders, minus their wheels and other components recently scavenged from them. The image suggests that this is the result of dismantling for accessories, which are highly sought after in Nampula, which has a considerable number of trucks and buses.

On the ground, our reporting team counted at least 27 buses. Their bodywork and seats are in perfect condition, but the most important components for the service of citizens are lacking.

“We want municipal public transport to start working again. We must acquire more buses and revitalise the Muhala Expansão-Faina routes, via Tipografia,” Nampula mayor Luís Giquira declared at the inauguration of the city councillors on Tuesday.

Regarding the state of roads in the city centre, the team led by Luís Giquira is resorting to the old option of filling potholes with gravel.

“We want the Maintenance and Works department to do everything to begin this intervention, not only filling potholes but also improving access roads to neighbourhoods. We are still in the rainy season, but we want, in the next 100 days of our governance, to guarantee minimum conditions for transit,” Mayor Giquira concluded.

Source: O País