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The Government, through the Ministry of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources, and the concessionaire, Estradas do Zambezi, signed on Tuesday, August 20, an addendum to the concession contract for the Kassuende Bridge over the Zambezi River in Tete province, responding to the need to improve service levels along the main axis and to intervene throughout the remaining concession network.
Therefore, the signing of this addendum will allow, among other actions, the extension of the concession contract for another five years with a view to making possible additional investments, the phased implementation of interventions on five highways (700 km in total), as well as the construction of three new toll gates and two assistance and maintenance centers.
The highways that will benefit from the intervention are Tete-Cassacatiza (276 km), Cuchamano-Changara (48 km), Changara-Tete (90 km), Tete-Zouboué (120 km) and Mussacama-Calómuè (162 km). Toll booths will be located on the Tete-Cassacatiza (two squares and an assistance and maintenance center) and Mussacama-Calómuè (a square and an assistance and maintenance center).
It is also planned to review the current tolls and the assumptions of a 100 million euro credit provided by the State, financed by Portugal’s Caixa Geral de Depósitos. On this occasion, Carlos Mesquita, Minister of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources, stressed that one of the effects of this addendum is to guarantee the economic viability of the concession, including the redistribution of risks between the concessionaire and the government.
“Our expectation is to put pressure on the concessionaire to guarantee the quality of the road, routine and regular rehabilitation programmes, as well as creating better traffic conditions, especially since traffic will increase, thereby generating revenues. The Minister stressed that the tolls to be installed have already been approved.
For Aníbal Leite, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Estradas do Zambeze, this act marks the beginning of a more complex and challenging phase. However, he is confident of the success of achieving the objectives and the concession: “We celebrate not only the signing of the addendum, but also a milestone in joint work. It is a clear example that, through dialogue and transparency between the public and private sectors, difficulties can be transformed into opportunities”.
It is worth mentioning that the concession contract was signed in July 2010 for a period of 30 years for the construction, operation and routine and regular maintenance of a new bridge over the Zambezi River in Tete, which was baptized with the name “Ponte Kassuende” after its completion.
The contract also provides for the initial rehabilitation, operation and routine maintenance of the Cuchamano-Changara (48 km) and Changara-Tete-Zóbuè (210 km) roads, which constitute the main axes, as well as the Tete-Cassacatiza roads (276 km) and Mussacama-Calómuè (162 km), considered secondary axes, and the routine operation and maintenance of the Zamora Machel Bridge.
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