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Mozambique: Transporters Demand Backdated Fuel Subsidy
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Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
15 February 2008
Posted to the web 15 February 2008
Maputo
Maputo private transport operators want the fuel subsidy the government has promised backdated to 1 February, reports Friday's issue of the independent newsheet "Mediafax".
Serious rioting in Maputo and the neighbouring city of Matola on 5 February forced the government and the Federation of Road Transport Associations (FEMATRO) to withdraw the fare increases (of up to 50 per cent) that took effect that day.
FEMATRO made its agreement conditional on the government finding ways to compensate the owners of minibus-taxis (colloquially known as "Chapas") for the money they lose through keeping the fares low.
The government decision, announced on Tuesday by Transport Minister Antonio Mungwambe, is a fuel subsidy. Currently diesel costs 35.35 meticais a litre, but chapas will be able to obtain it for 31 meticais a litre , which was the price of diesel before the latest fuel price changes decreed on 23 January (at current exchange rates there are about 24 meticais to the US dollar).
But the government and FEMATRO have not yet worked out a way to implement this decision. Mungwambe had suggested that the chapas would pay the normal price at the pumps, but would then claim the subsidy from a special fund to be run by FEMATRO. This would require the chapa owners to submit honest receipts for the amount of fuel purchased.
A further demand from FEMATRO, raised at meetings on Wednesday and Thursday, was that the subsidy should be backdated at least to the start of the month. Those meetings, said "Mediafax", did not produce a viable mechanism for making the subsidy work. So a joint technical commission has been set up, which should report back on Monday with a workable scheme.
The government and FEMATRO have not yet discussed other matters raised by the transporters - such as the gross corruption inside the traffic police, and the period of validity of chapa licences.
Meanwhile, unlicensed chapa owners have gone on strike, demanding that they too should benefit from the fuel subsidy. Although unlicensed chapas are, by definition, illegal, they dominate certain routes within Maputo and Matola. Their strike has deprived four Maputo and Matola neighbourhoods (Kongolote, Albazini, Mahotas and Magoanine B) of transport.
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But on this issue, the government and FEMATRO see eye to eye. A spokesperson for the Maputo Transport Association (ATROMAP), Samuel Nhatitima, told "Mediadfax" that denying them the fuel subsidy would force the unlicensed operators to regularize their situation and apply for licences.
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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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