Africa-Press – Angola. More than 200 kilometers of roads are undergoing rehabilitation in the province of Cuanza-Norte, announced, on Wednesday, in Dondo (Cambambe), the Minister of Public Works, Urbanism and Housing, Carlos Alberto dos Santos.
Speaking to the press, as part of his inspection visit to the province’s road infrastructures, the government official highlighted the asphalting of the Samba Caju/Uiangombe/Banga/Quiculungo/Bolongongo section, covering a length of 92 kilometers.
In this section, he added, the prospect is that 45 kilometers will be paved by December, up to the municipal headquarters of Banga, so that the project can be completed by mid-2025″, he said.
He also made it known that a proposal from the provincial government is being analyzed to launch a public tender for intervention in the direct access to Uiangombe/Quiculungo, as an alternative route, with simpler solutions.
The minister also cited the asphalting work on the 36-kilometer section between Cambondo (Golungo Alto) and Quilombo dos Dembos (Ngonguembo), which is expected to be completed in June 2025.
He stressed that, despite starting earlier, the progress of this work, carried out by the company China Tiesiju Enginnering Group CO Limitada (CTCE), was conditioned due to delays in the availability of financing included in China’s credit line.
This situation, he continued, forced the government to find internal solutions, using the treasury, to ensure the continuity of the works.
He also highlighted the rehabilitation of the Caxilo/Ndalatando section, on national road 230, on a 45-kilometre route.
The works that began in February this year are budgeted at 47 billion, 502 million, 800 thousand kwanzas and will be carried out over a period of 24 months.
He also announced the intervention on the Alto Dondo/Ndalatando section, a route of 76 kilometers, and Ndalatando/Lucala, 38 kilometers.
For this section, the terms of the public tender to be launched shortly have already been defined.
He clarified that the work on these sections is part of the conservation and maintenance program of around a thousand kilometers between Luanda and Saurimo (Lunda-Sul), of which 600 kilometers have already been completed, on the Malanje/Saurimo section.
He informed, on the other hand, that, from now on, the ministry he heads will prioritize the conservation of roads over the construction of new ones, to keep existing roads trafficable.
It will also consider, as a priority, the dirt roads program with soil stabilizer solutions, aiming to rehabilitate more road sections in the country, especially those connecting agricultural production areas, in less time and with little money and workload.
In the minister’s view, well-built sections of dirt road will facilitate traffic more quickly and, consequently, commercial exchanges between the interior regions of the country.
He added that he has information that these works, included in the National Development Program (PDN)/2023-2027, are progressing at a good pace and are on schedule, which leads him to believe that they will be completed before 2027.
The province of Cuanza-Norte has a road network of four thousand and 105 kilometers of roads, including primary, secondary and tertiary.
Of the total number of kilometers of roads, 550.60 are paved, while 961 kilometers are paved sections.
1,355 kilometers of the aforementioned roads currently accommodate road traffic, with six of the province’s ten municipal seats, namely Dondo, Ndalatando, Golungo Alto, Lucala, Samba Cajú and Camabatela, and several surrounding communal seats being linked to the capital of the province and Luanda via paved roads.
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