Maputo, 17 Feb (AIM) – On Monday, a group of mini-bus drivers decided to use stones and other obstacles to build barricades blocking a stretch of Julius Nyerere Avenue, which is the main access road to the presidential offices, in Maputo city, in order to demand improvements in the roads and a reduction in the cost of living.
According to drivers interviewed by AIM, they decided to stop operating, in protest against the road’s poor conditions, characterized by potholes and cracks, making traffic extremely difficult and dangerous, as well as causing constant damage to vehicles.
“I’m tired of damaging my own car because of these potholed roads. The government and the municipal council do nothing to improve our lives. We work hard but the roads are horrible.
We must always repair our vehicles because of the roads but they always want to charge us money. We are tired”, one of the drivers said.
In Macia town, in the southern province of Gaza, the protesters also blocked the country’s main north-south highway (EN1) in protest against the high cost of living. They demanded implementation of the measures announced by former presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, which include reducing the price of cement.
Another group of protesters also blocked the road which connects the tourist resort of Ponta do Ouro to the border with the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal.
In Namaacha district, the EN2 National Road, between Maputo and Eswatini, is blocked in the Mandevo region, and the protesters are also demanding an improvement in their living conditions.
(AIM)
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