FIVE CABO DELGADO DISTRICTS WILL REMAIN CUT OFF

Five districts in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado are likely to remain isolated from the rest of the country for another month, according to the provincial director of public works, Dino Coutinho, cited in the independent daily “O Pais”.The districts concerned are Mueda, Muidumbe, Nangade, Mocimboa da Praia and Palma. Overland communication between these districts and the provincial capital, Pemba, was cut on 28 March, when a bridge over the Messalo river was swept away in flooding.Coutinho said that the current plan is to bring two metallic bridges from Maputo – one to replace the bridge over the Messalo, and the second to replace another bridge on the same road which could collapse at any moment. Coutinho’s estimate is that it will take 30 days to brings these metallic bridges from Maputo and assemble them in Cabo Delgado.

Speaking in Pemba, the Minister of Public Works, Cadmiel Muthemba, said that the government will build an alternative road linking Pemba to Mocimboa da Praia and Palma, the two key districts for exploiting Cabo Delgado’s offshore natural gas reserves.He promised that new roads and bridges will be built to resist storms, and thus reduce the impact of natural disasters on the province.He added that Pemba, which was seriously battered in the late March storms, will have a new drainage system, and companies are currently being selected to design the system. Muthemba said this was a government priority, but did not say when the drainage system might be built or how much it would cost.