The entry into circulation of articulated vehicles in the Greater Maputo region is a process that will take at least nine months, according to the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Transport Agency (AMT), António Matos.

Matos explained that, by April, only the tendering process will have been completed and not the introduction of the vehicles, as reported by some national newspapers.

"We are aware that this is a process that will eventually take around nine months. It could be sooner, but that depends on flexibility and we don't know the proposals yet," he said. "At the very most, the bureaucratic process could only be finished in April," Matos told Notícias.

Another important aspect, according to the source, is the fact that the tender, which began in December, has been extended for another 30 days, because "the bidders we received all asked for the deadline to be extended, so we extended it until February 16".

"So it's not true that we'll have articulated buses running by April," he concludes.
For his part, AMT's technical administrator, Armando Bembele, drew attention to the time the process could take to manufacture the vehicles themselves.

"Another thing is that the vehicle market is made to order. Therefore, the manufacturing process can only take place after the contract has been awarded," he says.

Regarding the intelligent transport project, launched last August in partnership with the South Korean government, Matos assured that the first phase will have been implemented by the end of 2024.

"By the end of 2024 it will have been implemented, because the project is done and now we're talking to the South Korean government to see what the financing capacity is," he explained.