Timanguene — Mozambican President Armando Guebuza asked on Tuesday for a feasibility study for the building of a road bridge over the Incomati river to facilitate circulation of people and goods and stimulate the development of Magude district, about 90 kilometres north of Maputo.

Local residents called for a bridge during a rally addressed by Guebuza on Monday, and the call was repeated on Tuesday during a session of the Magude district government chaired by Guebuza.

Magude district is currently served by a narrow rail bridge, part of the Limpopo railway line from Maputo to Zimbabwe. Given the absence of a road bridge, vehicles have been allowed to use the rail bridge, but at considerable risk.

Speaking on the second day of his tour of Maputo province, Guebuza urged the local governments in Magude and Marracuene districts to carry out the feasibility study and present it to the central government as soon as possible.

He stressed that the bridge would be of vital importance for the Xinavane sugar factory, particularly at a time when the undertaking it is planning to expand its production.

A source in the Xinavane factory told reporters that the company is seriously considering building an alternative bridge itself over the Incomati in order to facilitate the transportation of cane from the plantation in Timanguene locality to the Xinavane factory.

Residents of Marracuene district also raised the need for this bridge, during a rally addressed by Guebuza in Marracuene town on Tuesday. A bridge would eliminate the need to use a ferry service to reach Marracuene's best-known asset, the tourist resort of Macaneta.