JUSTIN ARENSTEIN, Maputo | Thursday
THE long-awaited fifth and final tollgate on the R2bn N4 highway between South Africa’s industrial heartland of Gauteng and the Mozambican port of Maputo has opened, in spite of a strike by construction workers and widespread community resistance to the toll road.
The protests had already delayed the opening of the road, billed as one of Africa’s biggest infrastructure projects, from Monday.
Trans African Concessions (TRAC) representatives confirmed that contracted construction workers downed tools at the Matola tollgate last week following a pay dispute, but stressed that the issue was resolved over the weekend.
They also confirmed that local Matola City residents had threatened to blockade the road unless storm water run-off from the highway was diverted away from their houses.
Complaints about the siting of the tollgate, between residential areas in Matola and businesses in Maputo, have also been addressed by granting concessions of up to 60% to regular travellers.
Similar grievances at three tollgates in neighbouring Mpumalanga have resulted in public protests, boycotts and legal challenges by residents of Witbank, Middelburg, Machadodorp, Waterval Boven and Malelane.
The Matola tollgate, one of only two in Mozambique, lies on the final leg of the 450km Maputo Corridor toll road from Pretoria and Johannesburg in Gauteng, through Mpumalanga and finally to Maputo Port in Mozambique.
TRAC was awarded an exclusive 30-year concession to build, maintain, and operate the multi-billion rand toll road as part of the broader R25bn Maputo Development Initiative.
Construction was completed ahead of initial expectations despite setbacks caused by devastating flooding in Mozambique and Mpumalanga early last year. The construction of the project had already begun meeting some of the key objectives of the Corridor initiative by training and employing local contractors wherever possible.
Slightly over 6_200 jobs had been created, he said, with an additional 20_000 people trained at three TRAC sponsored training and development centres.
Jackson also stressed that the N4 had experienced a significant drop in accidents and fatalities since TRAC took over management of the road three years ago. – African Eye News Service