Emergency works on Zambezia road in Mozambique are set to begin soon. Mozambique’s Minister of Public Works, Joao Machatine has promised that the works that involve making passable key stretches will begin shortly.
Regional road 558 is about 100km long, and links the districts of Milange and Mulumbo. Two stretches are now virtually impassable. They were not in a good state to begin with, and the heavy rains falling in Zambezia in recent days have turned them into quagmires. Traders and transport operators in Zambezia are begging the government to intervene and patch up the road.
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Emergency works on Zambezia road
The minister visited the road and saw the plight of the people for himself. Some of the vehicles used by Machatine’s delegation also became trapped in the mud, and it was only thanks to the help and the muscle power of the local communities that they could be moved. Machatine promised emergency earth-moving work on the two critical sections which will cost about US $4.8m
“This is emergency work. The contractor will have to make a major effort on the job to return dignity to the population. As you know, this road is on the border with Malawi, and we can’t allow people to opt for life in Malawi rather than here just because of the roads,” he said.
Since December 2019, Mozambique has experienced strong rains, winds and flooding, affecting at least 58,851 people, in Zambezia (17,432). Apart from having the highest number of affected people, the province has suffered significant infrastructure damage.
