Mozambique: Port of Mocímboa da Praia reopens, two months on

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: Port of Mocímboa da Praia reopens, two months on

4:08 CAT | 21 May 2020

A tanker truck is loaded on a boat set to leave Pemba Port for Mocimboa, on Wedsnesday, May 20. [Photo courtesy: Janfar Abdulai (Minister of Transort and Communications of Mozambique) / Facebook page]

Two months ago, the Port of Mocímboa da Praia was partially destroyed the terrorists plaguing Cabo Delgado province since October 2017. As a consequence, it was closed, affecting the distribution of various goods such as food and liquid fuels in the town and other districts in the north of the province.

This, at a time when the floods of the last rainy season and armed attacks can hardly be said to have assisted in the desired circulation of people and goods. However, two months after the attack, the government has rehabilitated the facility, and this Wednesday (20) reopened it to traffic.

On a working visit to the province, Minister of Transport and Communications Janfar Abdulai explained the importance and significance of the reopening of the Port of Mocímboa da Praia, RDP Africa reports.

“The reopening will allow the [resumption of] supply of food, liquid fuels and more to the district of Mocímboa da Praia, as well as the districts of Mueda, Nangade, Muidumbe, among other districts further north that are mainly supplied by the port, given the road conditions that the province has been experiencing since the beginning of this year.”

Considered a facility of the secondary degree, the Port of Mocímboa da Praia was built in 1957 and currently occupies an area of approximately 26,500 square metres. With an access arm 79 metres long and 12.50 metres wide, the infrastructure has a capacity for mooring one medium-sized vessel of up to 20,000 tons.

The port is one among several public and private facilities destroyed by terrorists in Mocímboa da Praia and other districts. The partial destruction on March 23 of the local aerodrome also stands out as constraining the rehabilitation of other infrastructure.

By Evaristo Chilingue

Source: Carta de Moçambique