The Mozambican government expressed its dissatisfaction this Sunday (19) with the quality of the work underway since 2018 on National Road 280 (N280), between Tica-Buzi, awarded to the Indian contractor Afcons Infrastructure, and has already asked the government of India to intervene.
During a visit to Sofala province, in the centre of the country, the Minister of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources, Carlos Mesquita, said that “the Tica-Buzi road is still under construction”, but that the government is not satisfied with its quality, recognising that there are some worrying sections, given their level of degradation, at a time when the Executive has not yet received the road.
“We contacted the Government of India, through the High Commission in Maputo. We had a meeting and I asked them to bring their team to visit this stretch to see what is happening,” added Carlos Mesquita.
Budgeted at 127 million dollars, the project to rehabilitate the Tica-Búzi road began in 2018 and should be ready in three years. The work consists of asphalting a length of 134 kilometres and building 18 bridges, as well as two bridges, which are already in the final stages.
However, given the lack of specialised equipment on the domestic market, the deadlines have already been changed three times.
In view of the situation, the minister said that officials from India sent a team to visit the site last month and they weren’t satisfied either, so the contractor “has to come up with solutions to resolve the pathologies already identified on a new road”.
The minister expressed concern about the slowness that has characterised the work, which is under 60% complete, although he acknowledged the constraints caused by cyclones and floods in that part of the country.
