Zambézia: Government needs two billion meticais to rehabilitate infrastructure

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Zambézia: Government needs two billion meticais to rehabilitate infrastructure

2:13 CAT | 12 Mar 2019

Photo: O País

The central government needs two billion meticais (US$31.8 million) to comprehensively repair rain and flood damage to Zambezia’s road network dating back as far as 2015.

Minister of Public Works Housing and Water Resources João Machatine has been visiting the central province to assess the impacts of the floods, particularly on roads and bridges.

At least 1,375 kilometres of roads in the province of are impassable, with the minister reporting that, at this stage, securing a return to normal life for the population will cost the government 219 million meticais.

“In terms of budgetary impact we have two aspects to consider. On the one hand, we have what we call immediate interventions, where we are talking about a budget requirement of around 219 million meticais to immediately repair roads cut, bridge abutments and aqueducts damaged, and a metal bridge swept away,” the minister said.

But for the central government to rehabilitate the Zambezia road network comprehensively would cost approximately two billion meticais.

Minister Machatine visited the main road stretches in Mocuba, Maganja da Costa and Mocubela, and was struck by the destruction wrought by the floods in the province. Dirt roads have enormous craters, complicating the flow of traffic, people and goods and hampering inter-district communication.

Even four-wheel drive vehicles are immobilised by the mud, vividly impressing Machatine’s entourage with the causes of the population’s frequent public pleas for intervention.

“We urgently need to resolve this situation. Through emergency intervention, we must make a plan to mitigate this martyrdom,” he said.

By Jorge Marcos

Source: O País