Mozambique: Government wants ‘alternative’ after major bridge washed away

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Mozambique: Government wants ‘alternative’ after major bridge washed away

4:53 CAT | 30 Dec 2019

[File photo: Jornal Notícias]

Mozambique’s government plans to establish an alternative link within 48 hours for the crossing of the Montepuez River, following the collapse of a bridge that left seven districts isolated in the north of Cabo Delgado province.

“The province is receiving attention from the central government,” Júlio Paruque, governor of Cabo Delgado province, told the Notícias newspaper, adding that the priority is a “fast alternative route.

The bridge over the Montepuez River, on Highway Number 380, collapsed in the early hours of Saturday, following bad weather that has already caused the deaths of at least five people, affecting another 2,650 in that northern province of Mozambique, according to official figures.

The government issued an orange alert to all provinces in the country the same day, as a way to speed up the mobilisation of resources to assist victims and repair damage, taking into account that the rainy season in the country only ends in April.

In addition to Cabo Delgado, the bad weather hit part of Nampula, but not so hard, said the INGC delegate in that province, Alberto Armando, in declarations to Lusa.

In April this year, some parts of Cabo Delgado province were hit by Cyclone Kenneth, which killed 45 people and affected another 250,000.

A month before Kenneth passed, central Mozambique was devastated by cyclone Idai, which caused 604 deaths and affected about 1.5 million people in the centre of the country, as well as destroying various infrastructures.

Between the months of November and April, Mozambique is hit by cyclonic winds from the Indian Ocean and by floods originating in the watersheds of southern Africa.

In total, 714 people died during the rainy season in 2018/2019, including 648 victims of cyclones Idai and Kenneth.

Source: Macau Business