Africa-Press – Mozambique. Four metal bridges are to be installed by the end of the year over the Messalo and Montepuez rivers on roads in Cabo Delgado province, in northern Mozambique, the authorities have stressed, after bad weather and armed attacks halted recovery work.
The bridges are to be built on national road 380 (a paved highway linking Cabo Delgado’s north and south) and on rural roads 698 and 762, to Mueda and Quissanga, respectively, the director-general of the National Roads Administration (ANE), said Américo Dimande, quoted by state bodies.
The roadworks are part of a set of emergency works still taking place following the damage caused by Cyclone Kenneth in April 2019.
Since then, the armed insurgency in the region had halted several such operations on the ground.
The metal bridges to be installed are being financed by an African Development Bank (AfDB) donation of 810 million meticais (€10.8 million).
Cabo Delgado is a province rich in natural gas, but terrorised since 2017 by armed rebels, with responsibility for some attacks claimed by the local affiliated of the Islamic State group.
The conflict has claimed more than 3,100 lives, according to the ACLED conflict registration project, and displaced more than 817,000 people, according to Mozambican authorities.
Since July, an offensive by government troops with the support of Rwanda – later joined by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) – has improved the security situation, with several areas taken back from the rebels, in particular the town of Mocímboa da Praia, which had been occupied since August 2020.
