Niassa Needs Four Million USD To Repair Roads Threatened By Natural Disasters

Niassa Needs Four Million USD To Repair Roads Threatened By Natural Disasters

Maputo, 5 Jan (AIM) – The northern Mozambican province of Niassa needs 265 million meticais (about 4.1 million dollars at the current exchange rate) to fund the maintenance of roads in order to minimize the impact of natural disasters, especially extreme rainfall.

Referring to a study conducted in that province, Celso Cardoso, in representation of the National Roads Administration (ANE), quoted in Thursday’s issue of the Maputo daily “Notícias”, said that, without maintenance, roads will be interrupted in the case of mudslides or damage to the structures used to drain stormwaters.

In this situation of risk, said Cardoso, there are some roads that ensure the connection between district capitals, “but other sections may be interrupted due to the rainfall.”

According to Cardoso, several urgent interventions are necessary, because many of these sections do not have alternative routes. Without such interventions, some sections will be isolated from the rest of the province indefinitely.

“The rains that have been falling heavily in recent days are contributing to the saturation of the soil, a fact that is already hindering the free movement of vehicles of all kinds”, he said.

Recently, Cardoso said, ANE mobilized contractors to ensure the maintenance of some stretches of road in order to avoid interruption in traffic.

In general, the Ministry of Public Works intends to invest this year 20 billion meticais (about 313 million dollars at the current exchange rate) for the rehabilitation of rural roads and installation of bridges.
(AIM)
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