Zambezia roads to receive upgrade

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Zambezia roads to receive upgrade

7:31 CAT | 17 Jul 2017

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The provincial government of the central Mozambican province of Zambezia is to spend 40 million meticais (about 666,000 US dollars, at current exchange rates) on maintaining and rehabilitating roads and bridges in the districts to boost the commercialisation of agriculture.

In an interview with the daily newspaper “Noticias”, the provincial director of public works, Graciano Artur, revealed that each of the province’s 22 districts has been allocated 1.8 million meticais so that work could begin in August.

The province is still suffering from the effects of the natural disasters that took place in 2015 which seriously damaged more than 2,500 kilometres of roads and 70 bridges and aqueducts. This has seriously disrupted the flow of agricultural produce to the regional and national markets.

The reporter from “Noticias” found that a lack of road maintenance in the districts of Gurue, Ile, Morrumbala, Mopeia, and Luabo had left the roads with craters and bridges that were either impassable or close to collapse.

Thus, the journey along the 50-kilometre section between Zero and Morrumbala takes two and a half hours due to damage caused by heavy rain. The deterioration of the roads is also adversely affecting traffic along the sections Mopeia – Luabo, Bive – Maganja da Costa, Maganja da Costa – Pebane, Gurue – Mualijane, Gurue – Intulo, and Magigi – Lioma – Cuamba.

According to Inusso Ismael from the Zambezia Business Council, the poor condition of the roads is a hindrance to the province’s economy as traders cannot take their goods to market in a timely fashion. As a result, agricultural producers find that they are left with surpluses that they cannot get to market.

The problems caused by the terrible state of the rural road network were raised by President Filipe Nyusi when he addressed National Forum on Agricultural Marketing, which was held in March in the Zambezia town of Mocuba. The President said that the poor state of rural roads was one of the main hindrances to effective marketing, and pledged that the government will continue to invest in transport and communication infrastructures to ensure that the crops produced by farmers reach the market in good condition.

Source: AIM