15 December 2007
Guija — People living in the southern Mozambican districts of Chokwe and Guija, on opposite banks of the Limpopo river, can now cross the river by road, for the first time in 30 years.
President Armando Guebuza inaugurated the new bridge over the Limpopo on Friday. The original Chokwe-Guija bridge was destroyed by Rhodesian forces of the illegal Ian Smith regime in 1978, with drastic results on the socio-economic life of the region.
Since the Rhodesian raid, the only road link was from Chokwe to the river crossing at Macarretane, then along a dirt track to Guija. Small boats crossed the river at Chokwe but were unable to carry much cargo.
The new bridge cost 12.7 million euros (about 16 million US dollars), and was financed by the Nordic Development Fund. The tender to build the bride was won by the Portuguese construction company Duarte Teixeira, and the work took about a year.
The bridge is 490 metres long and 12 metres wide. It has two carriageways, and two walkways for pedestrians. Rather more than 200 workers, mostly recruited locally, were involved in the construction.
At the inauguration ceremony, Guebuza said the bridge would alleviate the hardships that the people living in the two districts had faced. "As from today families in Chokwe and Guija can visit each other easily without having to take the long journey via Macarretane, or running the risk of being attacked by crocodiles when crossing the river by canoe", he said.
"Today we've won", declared Guebuza. "This bridge shows that Mozambicans can over come suffering, and they will also overcome poverty".
Ironically, when Guebuza was speaking, the river at Chokwe contained virtually no water, and it was quite possible to walk across the river bed. There has been little rain in this part of Gaza province, and this will certainly cause serious headaches for those farmers dependent on the Chokwe irrigation, the largest in the country.
Earlier in the day, Guebuza also inaugurated the expanded and rehabilitated Chokwe city water supply system. This work was financed by the African Development Bank (ADB) and the Dutch and Mozambican governments to the tune of 36 million meticais (about 1.5 million dollars).
The China Geo Corporation won the contract to build the system, while inspection was in the hands of the Zimbabwean company, Lamont Consulting Engineers.
According to the government's Water Supply Investments and Assets Fund (FIPAG), the new system the new system raises water production capacity in Chokwe from 7,344 to 9,744 cubic metres a day, and brings water to 24,000 more consumers.
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