Africa-Press – Mozambique. Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Monday inaugurated the 135 kilometres of road between the city of Montepuez and Ruaca, linking the northern provinces of Cabo Delgado and Niassa.
The road cost 2.8 billion meticais (about 44 million dollars, and includes two bridges, over the Ruaca and Nacohucuhucu rivers.
At the inauguration ceremony, in the Cabo Delgado district of Balama, Nyusi stressed that the road is intended to serve the development of the country – and not to make life easier for terrorist groups who might seek to use it to cross from Cabo Delgado into Niassa.
Cited by the independent television station, STV, Nyusi said “This is not to facilitate the movement of terrorists from one province to another. Let us remain vigilant”.
“We all know that terrorist groups are spreading pain and mourning in Cabo Delgado, and are trying to seek refuge in Niassa”, he added. “But our young people of the defence and security forces are waiting for them”.
Nyusi also urged the public to be on the lookout for poachers trying to use the road, since it is a route into the Niassa National Reserve, the largest conservation area in the country. During the construction of the road, a police post was installed at Ruaca, precisely to crack down on poaching.
According to the Minister of Public Works, Joao Machatine, the government financed about 76 kilometres of the road, and the rest was financed by foreign aid (50 kilometres by the African Development Bank, ADB, and nine kilometres by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, JICA).
The road is part of national highway N14, which will eventually link the two provincial capitals, Pemba in Cabo Delgado and Lichinga in Niassa. On the Niassa side, the stretches from Ruaca to Marrupa, and from Litunde to Lichinga have already been completed.
At the ceremony the governors of Cabo Delgado and Niassa, Valige Tauabo and Judite Massangele, stressed that the road will bring gains to the people of both provinces, particularly because of improved access to the port of Pemba.
Nyusi inaugurated this road just three days after inaugurating the stretch of highway in Niassa between Cuamba and Muita. This means there is a now a paved road all the way between Lichinga and Cuamba, a distance of 338 kilometres.
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