3 October 2008
Maputo — A new international road terminal in the heart of Maputo is nearing completion, and Maputo City Council hopes that it will be operational by the end of November.
Costing a million US dollars, the terminal will serve all the companies that provide passenger services between Maputo and South Africa. Buses to Swaziland will also start from here. Currently each company has buses departing from its own offices, without any appropriate facilities for passengers.
The new terminal, visited on Thursday by the mayor of Maputo, Eneas Comiche, will have two departure lounges, a warehouse for merchandise, a bar, shops, washrooms, and space for 40 ticket offices. The parking area can hold up to seven buses and 30 minibuses.
The terminal is described as a "private-public partnership". The City Council made the space available, but the investment has come from the private company Okapi Lda. Okapi has a lease on the land for a five year period. During that time it will pay the City Council a monthly fee of 50,000 meticais (slightly more than 2,000 dollars),
At the same time a new car park will begin operating beside the Maputo Central Market, with space for 202 vehicles. The same arrangement holds: the Council allocated the space to the company Inter-Mesch, which invested 500,000 dollars in building the car park. This time the lease is for 20 years, and Inter-Mesch will pay the Council a monthly fee of 75,000 meticais.
It is not yet known how much motorists will have to pay to use the new car park. Motorists are not used to paying for parking in Maputo, but most would probably be willing to pay a reasonable fee if the car park has reliable security, keeping away the thieves who break into cars left parked by the roadside.
Comiche also visited two municipal gardens that have been rehabilitated and are being handed over to private management. The Cardoso Hotel has invested 1.4 million dollars in the "Teachers' Garden", which faces the Josina Machel Secondary School, and has a view over the bay of Maputo.
The garden will contain a children's playground, a games area, a pastry shop, and public toilets. The installation of lighting in the garden means that it will no longer be dangerous after nightfall.
The second garden, in the plush neighbourhood of Sommerschield, has been rehabilitated with 325,000 dollars from a local residents association, which will now hold a 20 year lease.
The hotel will pay the council a fee of 40,000 meticais a month, and the residents' association 2,500 meticais a month.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
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.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
