REDE Viária de Moçambique, SA (REVIMO) has already paid the State, in its first two years of activity, taxes amounting to 162 million meticais.
REVIMO was created with the objective of building, maintaining and operating infrastructures that can be concessioned by the government, such as roads, bridges, among others, through a system of tolls.
The Minister for Public Works, Water Resources and Housing, Carlos Mesquita, confirms that the government has conceded roads to REVIMO by direct contract because the company is listed on the Stock Exchange.
According to Mesquita, cited by Jornal Notícias, the fact “makes the operation more credible, expedient and inclusive, as it allows public and private entities, individuals or legal entities to also become owners of the project, following requirements and public scrutiny.
Mesquita was responding last week to questions from members of parliament on the installation of tolls on Mozambican roads, including the Maputo ring road.
According to the Minister, with the concession of 550 kilometres of roads to REVIMO, it means that the maintenance and rehabilitation of this network will now be carried out by the company’s own resources and from road use fees.
“This frees up resources from the State Budget for investment in other roads that face resource constraints,” Mesquita said. “The aim of this initiative is even to relieve the State of maintenance expenses due to the wear and tear of road use,” he added.
REVIMO is the concessionaire of the Maputo ring road; Maputo/Katembe bridge and connecting roads; and the Beira/Machipanda road.
Mesquita said that the tolls aimed to ensure the return on complementary and development investments made by investors; maintenance and operation of the roads under concession, and other administrative and financial expenses of the concession.
The Minister revealed that the infrastructures under concession to REVIMO, already in full operation of the tolls, have an annual maintenance cost estimated at about 2.6 billion meticais, which corresponds to about 62 percent of the Budget, currently allocated to the maintenance of the entire road network in the country.
“If the road network granted to REVIMO continued to be managed by the roads sector, without tolls, and with the current levels of funding for maintenance, the country would allocate around 62 percent of its annual [maintenance] budget to preserve around two percent of its network,” Mesquita explained.
Mesquita told deputies that, under the terms of the contract, the “concessionaire is obliged to provide efficient levels of service that must be provided to users. In the event of non-compliance, the Government can trigger penalties that may culminate in the cancellation of the concession contract.
“If REVIMO does not comply with its contractual obligations, we will not hesitate to use the mechanisms provided in the contract,” concluded Mesquita.
