23 September 2008
Maputo — The Mozambican government intends to cancel its contact with the Portuguese building company Tamega, which has failed to rehabilitate a lengthy stretch of the country's main north-south highway within the agreed deadline.
The deputy minister of public works, Gabriel Muthisse, told AIM "We are in negotiations with Tamega, and our desire is to reach a friendly cancellation of the contract and find another way of finishing that stretch, which is currently blocking our road rehabilitation programme".
The stretch in question runs through the middle of the central province of Zambezia, from Namacurra to Nampevo to Alto Molocue.
Currently, the understanding the government has with Tamega, and with its partners who are financing the road programme, is to extend the contract to 31 December, but it seems that Tamega is unable to comply with this deadline either.
Muthisse said that one area of negotiation is for Tamega to grant more freedom to its subcontractors, notably the company OPCA, in charge of structural work such as bridges, so that it can deal directly with the government's National Road Administration (ANE).
The work on the bridges and culverts will finish by the end of the year, but the same cannot be said for the road surface itself. When Tamega fails to finish by 31 December, "the contract is cancelled automatically", Muthisse pointed out, "and the government will find another way to finish the road, but without Tamega".
The original deadline for finishing this stretch of road was 2007, but Tamega failed to meet that deadline, citing "financial problems". The adjoining stretch of the highway, from Alto Molocue to the Ligonha river, had no such problems, and was completed by the company CMC.
"Tamega is a company with a long history of building roads in Mozambique", said the deputy minister, "but on this stretch, which is one of the most problematic of the roads we have to finish, it is running into lots of problems. It should have finished it in 2007, but now I don't think it will be ready in 2008".
This stretch of the north-south highway runs through very fertile land and areas rich in mineral resources. To make the most of these resources a good road is essential.
Despite Tamega's problems, Muthisse argued that, over the past four years, "the north-south highway has been transformed". Parts of the road, such as the stretch from the Inchope crossroads to the Zambezi, are now in excellent condition. But there are also stretches, in parts of Inhambane province for example, where the road is in a shocking state.
Muthisse said that tenders will be launched later this year to repair these stretches.
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