The contingency plan for the current rainy season drawn up by the National Roads Administration (ANE) indicates that Nampula province needs around 800 million meticais (12.5 million dollars) to guarantee total passability throughout its territory.
Figures released by the Mozambican Information Agency (AIM) on Tuesday, 23 January, show that ANE has mapped out places vulnerable to rain and flooding resulting from the current rainy season and that 785.2 million meticals are needed to make the plan operational.
The agency explains that for the time being, despite the rain that has fallen, all the district headquarters are connected to the provincial capital, although in some places traffic is limited.
According to ANE, the road network is currently 955 kilometres (25%) in good condition, 1075 kilometres (27%) reasonable, 791 kilometres (20%) in poor condition, 842 kilometres (21%) in very poor condition and 310 kilometres (8%) impassable.
In total, Nampula province has 6,305 kilometres of roads, of which 4,013 are classified. Of this road network, 948.65 kilometres are surfaced and the remaining 5356.35 are not, which suggests high levels of vulnerability in the rainy season.
The currently impassable roads, which stretch for 310 kilometres, are spread across the districts of Mossuril, Mecubúri, Nacarôa, Memba, Malema, Lalaua and Eráti, a situation that has prevailed since the previous rainy season.
ANE, meanwhile, has already mapped the roads with potential risks of washouts and flooding in the North, South, Centre and West regions, located in the districts of Ribáuè, Lalaua, Mecubúri, Malema, Mogovolas, Angoche, Moma, Larde, Liupo, Meconta, Nacala-à-Velha, Memba and Mogincual. In this way, as well as having already deployed its technicians and inspectors, it has activated the eight contractors with whom it has contracts for emergency interventions.
Regarding the intervention of the contractors, the Secretary of State for Nampula, Jaime Neto, believes that they will continue to provide their services, since they have legal contracts with the government that guarantee due payment.
“These contractors have contracts with the government and all the work they have done will be paid for. It may not be immediately, because the contract already provides for this, but the measure to make state resources available will provide this money in order to compensate them for the work they have done,” he said.
The National Meteorological Institute has made it public that, due to the influence of the intertropical convergence zone, it is forecasting the occurrence of light to moderate and locally heavy rain in Nampula province (all districts) from the 18th until the 28th of this month, accompanied by local thunderstorms and light to moderate winds. Accumulated rainfall could be between 100 and 200 millimetres over the same period.
