Daniel Chapo acknowledged this Friday, May 15, that Maputo continues to face “major challenges” in urban mobility despite the recent delivery of more than 190 gas-powered buses, while promising progress on the long-awaited surface metro project.
“Regarding urban mobility in the city of Maputo, we delivered around 200 vehicles (…) last Monday (11), but we are aware that this is not enough. Major mobility challenges still remain,” Chapo said during a graduation ceremony for 350 students in Maputo.
According to the Head of State, the Government is now working “at full speed” to ensure that construction of the surface metro begins soon, as part of the integrated urban mobility programme for the capital, which also includes complementary solutions using Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems and other passenger transport vehicles.
“We are aware that public buses, BRT systems, and the surface metro all working together will allow us to finally consider urban mobility in Maputo resolved,” the President stated.
Addressing the graduates, Chapo urged each of them to become an “active agent of structural transformation” in the national economy, turning acquired knowledge into social infrastructure and business opportunities. According to the President, the current generation has the responsibility to unlock the country’s economic potential.
“When the history of the next 50 years of our independence is written, we hope this generation will be remembered as the one that transformed knowledge into development, productive strength, and ultimately economic independence,” he declared.
More Than 190 Gas-Powered Buses Strengthen Public Transport
On Monday, the President announced that Mozambique will launch a National Vehicle Gas Expansion Programme this year, while delivering more than 190 new gas-powered buses and stressing that the country’s natural gas resources must directly benefit the population.
“All these buses run on natural gas to help reduce costs. This means Mozambique is increasingly transforming its own natural resources into solutions that lower the cost of living for its people,” Chapo stressed, adding: “The gas is ours and it must serve us.”
The initiative involved the delivery of 190 gas-powered buses to serve 2.8 million residents in the city and province of Maputo, including 40 dedicated to school transport, alongside ten additional buses destined for the southern province of Inhambane.
The vehicles entered circulation in the Greater Maputo Metropolitan Area, home to nearly three million people, at a time when the country faces a fuel crisis marked by rising prices — the first price revision in more than a year — driven by the effects of the conflict in the Middle East.
Diesel prices rose by 45.5% and petrol by 12.1% per litre on May 7, with the Government attributing the increases to international market prices.
A litre of petrol now costs 93.69 meticais, up from 83.57 meticais, while diesel increased from 79.88 meticais to 116.25 meticais. Cooking gas rose from 86.05 meticais to 87.82 meticais per kilogram, and vehicle natural gas increased from 41.11 meticais to 52.73 meticais per litre.
Source: Lusa
