Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Municipal Council of Nampula has announced a four-month moratorium on fees for building maintenance and repair, aimed at encouraging residents to contribute to the beauty of the city.
The information was made public by Councillor Domingos Amaral, standing in for the president of Nampula Municipal Council at the launch of preparations for the city’s anniversary festivities on 22 August.
“We sat down with the collective and decided that we had to extend an exemption to all citizens to paint their houses, because we know that city procedure for someone to paint their house requires writing to the municipal council for authorisation, but in this case the Municipal Council is granting an exemption so any citizen, wherever he is, can paint his house without the need for any documentation,” Councillor Amaral detailed.
“In fact, in terms of painting there has been a significant amount which, at this moment, I cannot quantify, but for us, because we want a beautiful city for the citizen to feel happy, we think we will not be losing out with this endorsement,” he added.
According to our research, the fee for maintenance and repair of buildings in the city is 710.00 meticais .
“What we need to make clear,” Amaral said, “is that citizens cannot paint one floor one colour and another a different colour. We want to ensure against that, and call on residents not to do it. They can gather everyone who lives in the building and decide on a colour for everyone.”
Interviewed by Ikweli, Nampula resident João Baptista said he believed that this kind of regulation should be systematic, as it was before, in order to preserve the city’s good image.
“If you recall, our city was clean, and when it came time for the festivities the houses were painted, but today that doesn’t happen. It’s a city where the houses don’t receive much care, and there are no requirements for the houses to remain beautiful, so they don’t,” João Baptista said.
“It is also necessary to guarantee safety. Back in those days you could go out at midnight and circulate on the avenues of this city and no problem would arise. Back then, the person was only afraid of animals, not other people, but today you are afraid to enter your own house, because there may be someone there with a machete waiting for you. This reveals, in part, that your personal safety is not sufficient motive for guaranteeing public order. That’s why crimes is growing so much,” he added.
Like last year, this year’s city day will comply with Covid-19 restrictive measures.
“In principle, we are in an inappropriate period because of Covid-19, and we have to adapt to that reality. We used to have activities starting from today, like sporting and cultural activities. But, because of this pandemic, we have to find different ways of living together, so these activities will in some respects be restricted according to the law,” Councillor Amaral stressed.
By
Constantino Henriques
