Maputo — Mozambique's National Roads Administration (ANE) announced on Sunday that road traffic between the north and the south of the country has been re-established, through a route that bypasses the flooded city of Xai-Xai, capital of Gaza province.
Catastrophic flooding in southern Mozambique in early January cut the main north-south highway (EN1) in Maputo province in six separate places. The most serious of these was a stretch about three kilometres long between Incoluane and the 3 February administrative post.
These cuts were repaired by last Friday, essentially by building three or four aqueducts on each damaged stretch of EN1 which would allow the flood waters to flow underneath the highway.
But there was a much larger problem further north, in Gaza province, where EN1 passes through the heart of Xai-Xai city, which remains under water. The floods have split Xai-Xai in two, cutting off the low lying administrative and commercial areas of the city, from the higher residential zones. Currently, the only way to move around the lower parts of Xai-Xai is by boat.
Keep up with the latest headlines on WhatsApp | LinkedIn
The ANE solution is to bypass Xai-Xai altogether. The bypass involved restoring the road between Chibuto municipality, and the Chissano administrative post. The floods had made this road impassable for the previous three weeks.
Re-establishing the Chissano-Chibuto stretch was concluded by 16.00 on Sunday, allowing traffic to flow again between the south and north of the country.
Initially, only light vehicles and buses are allowed to use the Chissano-Chibuto road. Only after the surface of the road has been substantially improved will it be opened to heavy vehicles.
But EN1 in Xai-Xai remains impassable, as do roads in the west of Gaza province (between Chibuto and Chicualacuala, for example, between Guija and Choke, and between Manjangue and the Macarretane dam).
The ANE has urged motorists to avoid travelling at night, and to respect the emergency traffic signs installed in the wake of the floods.
Nationally, around 5,200 kilometres of roads were damaged in the storms and floods. The ANE's preliminary budget for road repairs is 3.5 million US dollars.
