Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Mozambican Ministry of Transport and Logistics has 180 days to propose a solution for the concession of National Highway Number 4 (N4) from Maputo to the Ressano Garcia border with South Africa, awarded for another two years to the South African company Trans African Concessions (TRAC).
The measure is included in a Council of Ministers resolution of June 27 which authorizes the minister who “oversees the area of roads to set up a technical team to evaluate the concession contract” over a 600-kilometre stretch of the highway connecting Maputo, Witibank and Pretoria (both in South Africa), including the section of approximately 90 kilometres in Mozambique.
The creation of the technical committee is justified in this Resolution with the need to “ensure transparency in the concession contract assessment process” and to “propose conditions for its continuation”.
“The technical team is authorized to establish contacts with South African government entities, the concessionaire and other interested entities, with a view to assessing the contract, its addenda and annexes, with transparency and efficiency, in line with the public policies and interests of both governments,” the resolution reads.
This technical team is made up of members from several Mozambican ministries, including Transport and Logistics, Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, and Finance.
“Other technicians of recognized capacity, suitability and experience in the area of roads and concessions may be invited to join the technical team (…). The Minister of Transport and Logistics must submit the proposal for the concession contract and the respective Decree for approval within 180 days, counting from the date of approval of this Resolution,” it also reads.
The concessionaire of the N4, Mozambique’s main expressway between Maputo and the border with South Africa, in Ressano Garcia, admitted to Lusa last January that it had suffered serious losses due to the post-election protests and that the future of the concession was up in the air.
“There was serious damage to Maputo’s tolls during the political unrest over the last three months,” an official TRAC source told Lusa at the time by.
After several weeks without charging tolls on that road, due to the post-election protests, during which presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane called for non-payment, TRAC resumed charging tolls in January, causing tensions at the entrance to Maputo.
The N4 connects Tshwane, Gauteng (South Africa) and the port of Maputo, and was built by TRAC under a 30-year concession, involving the governments of both countries, with the concessionaire assuming the construction and maintenance costs, after which time the highways revert to the states.
The same TRAC source added that “there are several options” for the future, including the road agencies of both countries (SANRAL and ANE), responsible for the concession contract, “taking over the management of the road”, the concession contract being put “out to tender again”, the renewal of the current contract or its extension.
According to TRAC, the 1997 N4 concession contract was worth R3 billion (€155.1 million at current exchange rates), plus R1 billion (€51.7 million) in ongoing improvement and rehabilitation works, and routine maintenance at R200,000 (€10,350) per kilometre, as well as salaries for around 500 employees and funding for local community projects in Mozambique and in South Africa.
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