The Mozambican government intends to subsidize the payment of tolls for public passenger transport, as a way of reducing its costs after the vandalization of these infrastructures.

At issue is the "tug-of-war" between hauliers and road concessionaires that has been taking place since the announcement in January of the resumption of tolls throughout the country after the stoppage caused by the electoral crisis. To this end, at a meeting of the Council of Ministers this Tuesday (11), the Executive said it was currently studying the process with the road concession companies (the South African company Trans African Concessions - TRAC, concessionaire of the N4 road, and Rede Viária de Moçambique - REVIMO).

Speaking to the press, the spokesman for the Council of Ministers, Inocêncio Impissa, said that "the government continues to work with the concessionaires to find alternatives to the cost of paying tolls for public passenger service carriers, in order to improve the cost of transport for citizens".

The government official also assured that he would be consulting with the communities surrounding the tolls, which are considered to be the ones that cause unrest when it comes to paying them, in order to find a consensus to allow them to function normally.

"Many of the people who destroy the tolls are local communities, and some of them don't drive cars, they pay indirectly by public transport," said the spokesman.

It should be remembered that since the announcement of the resumption of tolls, Mozambique has seen successive blockades and vandalization of these infrastructures all over the country.

(Photo DR)