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Mozambique: Tension Still High in Maputo
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Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
10 February 2008
Posted to the web 11 February 2008
Maputo
The Mozambican authorities have managed to restore public order to a certain extent in Maputo, following the riots that broke out in the capital on Tuesday morning to protest against the fares charged by the private minibus operators who provide much of the transport to the local residents.
While on Tuesday crowds were protesting against the fare increase, on Wednesday it was the turn of some private operators to express their anger against the decision to cancel the fare increase.
In some neighbourhoods surrounding Maputo, tension is still high with the private operators themselves preventing buses of the publicly owned company TPM from carrying passengers.
In the city of Matola, AIM witnessed some private operators preventing passengers from boarding TPM buses arguing that they should charge 2,50 meticais per person, rather than the standard fare of 5,00 meticais (at current exchange rates there are about 24 meticais to the US dollar). Since the private minibuses had been forced to halve their fares, they wanted the public buses to do likewise.
"If you want to take passengers you will have to charge 2,50 meticais", they shouted.
In the capital, however, most businesses have resumed their activities, though understaffed, as the shortage of minibuses meant that many people were still unable to reach their workplaces.
After an emergency meeting between the government and the Federation of Road Transport Associations (FEMATRO) chairperson Rogerio Manuel, Transport Minister Antonio Mungwambe told a Maputo press conference on Tuesday night, that the fares charged by the minibuses would return to their old levels - five meticais for journeys of up to five kilometres, and 7.5 meticais for longer trips.
The riots brought the capital Maputo to a virtual stand still with most of the businesses closed and leaving thousands of workers unable to reach their workplaces, while pupils who live a long distance from their schools found it impossible to reach classes. Some people resigned themselves to walking to work or school.
"The fares were not applicable and the evidence is the riots that broke out in Maputo on Tuesday", said the minister, adding that this Wednesday the Mozambican government and transport operators would proceed with the negotiations to find a common platform to deal with the current situation.
Interviewed by the publicly owned Radio Mozambique on Wednesday, Mozambican Police (PRM) spokesperson, Jacinto Cuna said that a number of brigades have already been deployed to the outer suburbs of Magoanine, Xiquelene, Laulane, among others to ensure the removal of the barricades and other obstacles that were still blocking the main roads.
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Meanwhile, nearly 100 people sustained from mild to severe injuries during the riots reported on Tuesday in the cities of Maputo and Matola, said Antonio Assis, from the Maputo Central Hospital speaking to STV.
Of this number, 29 are still under medical care, of who four under intensive care, while 63 others have been discharged.
No deaths have been reported among the injured, though STV reports at least one person killed by a stray bullet on Tuesday.
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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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