The mayor of Maputo, Razaque Manhique, on Tuesday challenged the new councillor for Infrastructure and Health to combat overcharging in the awarding of works in the country's capital.  

According to the Maputo mayor, who was speaking at the swearing-in ceremony of the new Councillor for Infrastructure and Health, João Munguambe, and four other directors, when a tender is launched for the construction of a two or three-room building for the collection of taxes, fees and other public services, and this tender is awarded at extremely high prices. "This makes us ridiculous, because these images then circulate on social networks," said Manhique, quoted by AIM.

The new mayor explained that for the construction of a private project of the same size, he would be able to accept the same amounts, something that is no longer the case when it comes to the state. There they don't hesitate to accept "abysmal" sums.

"It's ridiculous. We wouldn't want to see that on social media, it's ugly to do that. We also call on contractors not to play these games, because we must serve the state faithfully," he said.

That's why Razaque Manhique expects his councillors to improve the quality of life of the residents.

"We hope that the new infrastructure councillor can prioritize the routine and periodic maintenance of the municipality's road network, with the main focus on paved and earthen roads in order to improve their conditions of mobility and accessibility in the neighbourhoods, in the city as well as at the level of the metropolitan region," he said.

It recommended opening new main and secondary roads at district level, building and rehabilitating the main roads at municipal district level, including the sanitation and drainage system, upgrading, rehabilitating and building sidewalks, as well as "increasing the coverage of sanitation and drainage systems at municipal level.