Maputo — A group of residents from Pateque neighbourhood, in Manhiça district, about 60 kilometres north of Maputo city, on Monday blocked a section of the country's main north-south highway (EN1) pursuing a demand for electricity, after the publicly-owned electricity company, EDM, allegedly broke promises to electrify the region.
According to the Pateque residents, after several meetings with EDM representatives it was agreed that the electrification of the area would take place last June, but so far nothing has been done.
The failure of EDM to honour its promise led residents to block EN1 in the early hours of Monday in an attempt to rouse the attention of the authorities. They burnt tyres on the road and threw up barricades to prevent cars from passing
According to one local source, "in this neighbourhood, we have no electricity, no water and almost everything is missing. Several times we've been forced by supposed men from EDM to open up streets and give up part of our back yards to allow electricity pylons to be erected, but still nothing has been done.'
Another source said that EDM has been pledging to make electricity connections for years but it has been lying to people because nothing is ever done.
"We are fed up. There are many rapes and crimes in this neighbourhood because of the lack of electricity. We've heard several promises and so far nothing is happening. The blockade of the road was due to the fact that the residents were fed up with so many promises from EDM', the source said.
For his part, the EDM Director in Marracuene district, Eduardo Pinto, said that the Pateque neighbourhood is part of the "Energy for All' project and will soon be covered.
"The Pateque electrification project did not go ahead in June. Although no new date has been given, it has been guaranteed that work will start soon, since some of the necessary material is already in Maputo and the contractor has already been selected', he said.
Although the Police were called to restore order and remove the barricades from the road, there were no reports of any fatalities during the protests.
