850 Million Dollars Guaranteed For EN1
Maputo, 19 Jan (AIM) – 850 million US dollars are guaranteed for the rehabilitation of Mozambique’s main north-south highway (EN1), according to the Minister of Public Works, Carlos Mesquita, cited in Thursday’s issue of the independent newssheet “Mediafax”.
Speaking on Wednesday, during a working visit to the southern province of Gaza, Mesquita said that the initial phase of rehabilitation would be aimed at “the most problematic stretches” of EN1.
EN1 runs the entire length of the country, from Maputo to the northern province of Cabo Delgado, a distance of around 2,500 kilometres. The 850 million dollars is sufficient to cover 1,053 kilometres, from Pambarra, in Vilankulo district, in the southern province of Inhambane, to Nicoadala in the central province of Zambezia.
The 1,053 kilometres will be rehabilitated in three separate phases. Parts of these stretches of EN1 have become almost impassable during the current rainy season.
Mesquita could not say exactly when the rehabilitation work will begin or how long it will take. He merely said it would start this year. What made it impossible to announce precise dates was the need to respect the rules set by the financing agencies, notably the World Bank.
“There is work that has to be done, always bearing the conditions of the financing agency in mind. Each step that we take has to be approved by the World Bank”, said the Minister. “All this is not a matter of one month, two months or three months. We have been saying we believe that this year all these procedural elements on the management of the project can be concluded, and immediately afterwards the work can begin”.
As for the other 1,500 kilometres of EN1, Mesquita said the government is making further efforts to raise the money, including through the repeated visits by President Filipe Nyusi to the United Arab Emirates.
(AIM)
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