Africa-Press – Mozambique. Chinese contractor CJIC has been forced to suspend asphalting of the Intaka-Boquisso and Kongolote-Molumbela roads, under construction in Maputo province, for a month, due to a lack of “asphalt aggregates” caused by a “crusher failure”, company representative Scott Jiang told Carta.
“There is a shortage of asphalt aggregates to produce the concrete needed for the surface layer of the two roads we are laying. Only one quarry produces and supplies this material, but the company told us that the crusher broke down,” Scott Jiang stated.
The suspension of construction work on the 7 km Intaka-Boquisso and Kongolote-Molumbela 4 km sections will jeopardize the completion date, he added.
“We are under pressure from the communities that will benefit from both infrastructures, the municipality of Matola, and the Ministry of Transport and Logistics, but the delay in the work is related to the lack of this essential material for the surface layer of both roads,” he stated.
The CJIC representative stated that work began in July of last year and was supposed to last nine months, but the deadline was extended twice. One of the reasons for the delay was the post-election protests that swept the country between late 2024 and early this year, with the CJIC camp site at Intaka being vandalized. “The asphalting work is halted; to date, the supplier has not yet resumed delivery of the material,” he added.
Scott Jiang said that the construction company was carrying out only “auxiliary work” until aggregate deliveries resume.
The impact of the asphalt aggregate shortage is a result of there being only one company that quarries material with the quality and specifications required in the contracts signed with the project owner, in this case, the Mozambican state, he continued.
The Intaka-Boquisso road is estimated at just over US$7 million, and the Kongolote-Molumbela road at just over US$4 million, Jiang said.
“As soon as we receive the material, we will accelerate the completion of the works,” he said.
With 12 years of operation in Mozambique and with over a thousand employees, CJIC has already completed several public projects in the country, including schools and water supply systems.
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