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Mozambique: Transporters Negotiate Fare Rise
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Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
29 January 2008
Posted to the web 29 January 2008
The Mozambican Federation of Road Transport Associations (FEMATRO) are seeking government authorization for an increase of over 100 per cent in the fares charged by the private minibuses that provide much of the passenger transport in Maputo and the neighbouring city of Matola.
The standard fare on the minibuses (known colloquially as "chapas") rose by 50 per cent, from five to 7.5 meticais, in July 2005, and has been unchanged ever since (at current exchange rates, there are about 24 meticais to the US dollar).
According to a report in Tuesday's issue of the independent newsheet "Mediafax", FEMATRO bases its claim for a huge fare rise on a study made by a consultant which claimed that the fare should not be less than 18 meticais.
FEMATRO met with the Transport Ministry on Monday seeking consensus for new fares. The government, says "Mediafax", made proposals varying between 12.5 and 14.5 meticais for a trip between central Maputo and the city's outlying suburbs, or Matola.
If a fare of 14.5 meticais (a rise of 93 per cent) is agreed, people who depend on chapas to reach their work place will be paying at least 145 meticais a week in fares - a substantial sum for anyone earning the industrial minimum wage of 1,645 meticais a month.
The immediate spark for the negotiations was the rise in the price of fuel on 23 January. Petrol rose by 8.1 per cent and diesel by 14 per cent. A litre of diesel now costs 35.35 meticais, and a litre of petrol 35.49 meticais.
FEMATRO claims that, with the current price of fuel, there is no option but to increase fares - and to do so as soon as possible, because the current situation is supposedly "suffocating" the transporters.
FEMATRO has often made such alarmist statements. Yet, if running a chapa really was a loss-making business, one would expect the owners to take them off the roads. But the proliferation of these minibuses all over Maputo and Matola is clear evidence that the business remains profitable.
Some chapa owners are not waiting for the outcome of the negotiations, but have already out up their fares. On one route within Matola, where the fare was still only five meticais, the fare rose on Monday, without prior warning to 7.5 meticais.
This route, from Matola "J" to Mavoco, is used by peasant women to reach their fields. Surprised at the fare increase, the passengers demanded a return to the old fare, and demonstrated in front of the minibus terminal. Faced with this protest, the operators simply went on strike and nobody could use their vehicles.
One of the chapa owners, Arnaldo Novel, said when he takes passengers to Mavoco, his bus returns empty, because there is no demand in the morning from Mavoco-Matola transport.
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"This is a loss for us, because we only make a 125 meticais on the outward journey, which is not enough to buy the five litres of diesel we use in each trip", he claimed.
By the afternoon, enough passengers had grudgingly accepted the new fare for five of the 24 minibuses who normally ply this route to resume their operations.
On the route from central Maputo to the suburb of Albazine, chapa drivers unilaterally increased the fare by 33 per cent, from 7.5 to 10 meticais.
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| Copyright © 2008 Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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