Maputo, Mozambique, 7 July – Construction and exploration of the new bridge over the River Zambezi in Mozambique’s Tete province, with an estimated cost of 105.3 million euros, has been granted to road management consortium Estradas do Zambeze, the Council of Ministers spokesman said Tuesday in Maputo.

The concession granted to Estradas do Zambeze, a consortium made up of construction company Soares da Costa, transport concession company Ascendi Concessões de Transporte e Infra-Engineering de Moçambique, is valid for a 20-year period, with an option to extend for a further 10 years, also includes repairs on the Samora Machel bridge as well as its access roads.

The Council of Ministers spokesman and deputy Justice Minister, Alberto Nkhutumula also said that the Minister for Public Works and housing was due to sign the concession contract on 15 July, and work was due for conclusion in January, 2014.

Nkhutumula note that the roads policy adopted in 2008 by the government established concessions via public-private partnerships as a fundamental principle for construction and repair of roads and bridges and other public facilities.

In this case, he said, the precarious state of the access roads and the bridge over the Zambezi River and the development of the province itself justified not only repair of those sections but also construction of a new bridge that will link the city of Tete to Benga. (macauhub)