The total rehabilitation of the 3.8 kilometre bridge linking Mozambique Island, the former colonial capital, to the mainland of the northern province of Nampula is estimated at nine million US dollars, according to a report in Tuesday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias".
This figure was revealed by Mozambican Public Works Minister Roberto White during a ceremony to launch emergency rehabilitation of the bridge.
The emergency rehabilitation is budgeted at 1.7 million US dollars, granted by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), and will consist of replacing 115 pillars identified as being in an advanced state of decay.
White said that the government is currently striving to raise the necessary funds for a total rehabilitation of the bridge, which was inaugurated 35 years ago. During those three and a half decades, no significant repairs to the bridge have been undertaken, and users have warned that it is becoming increasingly dangerous.
"The government has never dodged its responsibilities to the bridge that gives access to Mozambique Island because, besides being an important social and economic infrastructure, it is also, like so many other parts of the island, a mirror of our culture", he said.
During the ceremony, White also urged all residents and users of the bridge to cooperate in full with the South African Rumdel company, that has been awarded the rehabilitation contract.
Fonte: AIM
