Maputo — The flow of trucks transporting minerals from South Africa to the Mozambican ports of Maputo and Matola, via national road number 4 (N4), may reduce slightly in the coming months, with the inauguration of the Pessene Traffic Management Park.
The park, which cost about four million US dollars to build, is located in the district of Moamba, about 60 kilometres north of Maputo. It is intended to ease congestion on the motorway that links the Mozambican capital to the South African city of Witbank.
The park, which was funded by Maputo Port Development Company (MPDC), covers 20 hectares, and is capable of accommodating over 200 large trucks.
Speaking after inaugurating the park, Transport Minister Mateus Magala said that it was built as a solution to deal with the heavy road traffic on the N4.
"In March of this year, I invited the governor of Maputo province [Júlio Parruque] to a meeting of minds where the main point was to find an urgent and effective solution to relieve the congestion created in part by the growing number of trucks and the limitations of the road infrastructure along the N4', he said.
The minister said that the park "should be seen as an extension of the Port of Maputo's operations", since the trucks that are going to use the space will only stay there while the organization and programming of fluid access to the Port is under way . "On that occasion we publicly announced the decision to immediately impose restrictions on truck traffic on the N4 during peak hours [at the beginning and end of the day] and the construction of this Traffic Management Park that we are inaugurating today reflects our commitment to reconciling the growth of economic activities with the safety of the Maputo corridor', the minister said.
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Magala challenged the MPDC to continue modernizing the Park's infrastructure and facilities, to double its truck capacity in the coming months, and to turn it into a dry port.
"It will allow us to avoid the long queues on public roads that hamper traffic in the cities of Matola and Maputo, creating a daily inconvenience for the public and for economic activities', he said.
Magala added that the park has already guaranteed 32 permanent jobs for members of the local communities, and more than 100 temporary jobs.
The park is integrated with all the digital systems operated by MPDC in Maputo port, making it easier to handle the trucks, as the paperwork for each of them is processed.
