Maputo — Mozambican state owes 300 million meticais (4.6 million dollars, at the current exchange rate) to building contractors based in the northern province of Nampula.

According to Mário Albano, head of the Building Contractors Association in Nampula, the debts have been outstanding for a year on average, "and business owners are waiting to receive payment for work already done or even to complete the work.'

"This is yet another debt owed by the state to business owners who have contracts for the construction, rehabilitation or improvement of roads and the construction of public buildings in Nampula', he said, cited by the independent daily "O País.'

But some of the contractors have swindled the state out of large sums. Albano admitted that there are building contractors who have abandoned projects, "and some of these contractors have received from the state 100 per cent payment.'

"The blame lies between the project owners and the irresponsibility of some contractors', he said. He also claimed that the poor execution of some jobs is related to the low quality of material used by some contractors.

In June, it was announced that the Road Fund in the northern province of Niassa, owes 280.4 million meticais to building contractors who, during the rainy season, worked on the province's roads to guarantee accessibility.