5 December 2007
Maputo — One of the cables that supports the Samora Machel suspension bridge, over the Zambezi river, in the western Mozambican city of Tete collapsed onto a truck on Sunday, severely damaging it.
The owner of the damaged truck, Rafik Remane, cited in Wednesday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias", said the incident took place at about 11.00 hours when he was crossing the bridge, heading towards Malawi.
"The truck's bodywork was damaged on the left side and we have agreed with the National Roads Administration (ANE) and the Road and Bridge Construction and Maintenance Company (ECMEP) that they will repair the damage", said Remane.
This incident is just the latest sign that the Tete bridge is in a poor state of repair, although public works officials are at pains to stress that it is in no danger of falling into the river.
Nonetheless precautions have been taken. Only one truck is allowed on the bridge at a time, and a speed limit of 10 kilometres an hour for heavy vehicles is in force. At busy times this leads to queues of trucks waiting to cross the bridge, which is a key link in the road between Zimbabwe and Malawi.
Domingos Pacanate, delegate of the Tete ECMEP, which is responsible for maintenance of the bridge, admitted that it is in bad condition and needs complete rehabilitation.
"That all depends on the ANE", he said. "We, as ECMEP, can only maintain it, which we have been doing at a very high cost, because we have been going through a serious financial and material crisis and a shortage of qualified staff".
This is not the first time a suspension cable has collapsed. He blamed such incidents on the large number of heavy vehicles that use the bridge.
ECMEP also lacks basic safety material for its staff who work to keep the bridge open. Recently two workers fell from one of the bridge towers while they were re-attaching a fallen cable. They had no form of safety net, and were seriously injured when they hit the bridge platform. ECMEP claims it cannot even pay for their medical treatment.
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