Mozambique: ‘My Loves’ keep on transporting in Maputo

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Mozambique: ‘My Loves’ keep on transporting in Maputo

2:54 CAT | 26 May 2021

Photo: O País

Despite the ban on ‘My Love’ open-box van passenger transportation in the country’s capital, they still circulate on some roads. The Municipal Police say they remains committed to banning such vehicles, but some disparity between the wishes of the authorities and the reality on the ground is evident.

It is always at rush hour that one sees the fragility of the transport system in Maputo city. At bus terminals and stops, passengers wait hours on end for scarce transportation, which finally arrives already crowded with people.

Using open-box vans for passenger transportation is expressly forbidden, but in some parts of the city, the circulation of these vehicles with passengers is commonplace. In the Ferroviário neighbourhood, for example, the My Loves mitigate a chronic shortage in the very heart of the metropolis, which neither the City Council nor the government seem to be able to solve.

An image captured on Tuesday morning where the My Loves queue up for passengers shows the day-to-day reality of those who depend on this precarious form of public transport to reach various destinations – work especially. And all under the impassive gaze of those charged with putting an end to the situation.

Between Matola and Maputo, in the area known as Mafurreira, My Loves also circulate, crammed with people, with scant regard for any Covid-19 protection protocols.

Constância Guambe travels on a pick-up truck absent any safety measures, and says she is subject to this indignity because conventional transportation is insufficient.

“We are leaving the wholesale market and we have these plastics of ours; there is no transportation here because of this road of ours. Because the Municipality of Maputo, like that of Matola, does not fix the road from Mafurreira to Khongolote, so there is no [conventional] transport. The only transport we have is this open-box,” she complains.

Drivers of open-box vans know about the ban, but say they are on the side of the passengers, who spend a long time queuing at the stops.

Driver Constantino Manhice says that, especially during rush hour, passengers beg to be taken on board. “We are always loaded right up in the morning, because the stops are so full,” he says.

Municipal police fined some carriers last week. “In the week just ended, six fines were imposed for transporting passengers in open box vans,” spokesman Mateus Cuna explained.

Another scenario prohibited by the Municipal Police but nevertheless common on Maputo’s roads is the carrying of a mixture of passengers and cargo.

“All transport meant for cargo is expressly forbidden to transport of passengers. Passenger transport, in turn, is prohibited from transporting cargo,” Cuna says.

The only vehicles allowed to transport both people and cargo in Maputo are the mixed transport vehicles of the Metropolitan Transport Agency.

By Amandio Borges

Source: O País