Transport price hike in Maputo will “suffocate” those already living on the poverty line

A group of Mozambicans said that the increase in public transport prices would suffocate those already living on the poverty line, considering that the increase should be accompanied by strategies to increase the means of transport in the Mozambican capital.

“Life for us was already complicated and, with this increase, this is already a suffocation,” Albino Henriques, 34, a shoemaker who works on Ho Chi Minh Avenue in the center of Maputo, but lives in Boana, about 30 kilometers from the center of the capital, told Lusa.

At issue is the announcement of the Maputo Municipality about the increase of MT3 (€0.04) on public transport to be applied within a week.

This increase has already been considered unsatisfactory by the operators in view of the inflation.

For Albino Henriques, who will pay three more meticais in addition to the MT24 (€0.35) a day that he spends to get to his job, the decision of the municipality is inopportune, insofar as the cost of living remains high for the already limited pocket of those living on the poverty line.

“I had already been traveling here complaining due to the price of 24 meticais; now this will get worse,” lamented the shoemaker.

The worries are doubled for those living outside the city and having children in schools in the center of Maputo.

“This is going to be critical and will tighten the pocket of Mozambicans who are in the peripheral areas, sometimes with children who study in the city,” Samuel Mahajane, 44, told Lusa.

For the Mozambican hairdresser Titos Nhamombe, 43, the increase in the cost of transport is not being accompanied by strategies for the massification of means.

This problem has been raised for years by the residents of Maputo.

“Transportation could go up to MT30 (€0.43); there would be no problem if at least we had availability of transportation. What happens is that people are forced to take two or more transports to reach their destinations, which makes no sense, especially now with another increase,” declared Titos Nhamombe.

The new travel price in the city of Maputo is the result of an agreement between the municipality and the Mozambican Federation of Road Carriers Associations (Fematro), which advocated an increase of at least MT7 (€0.10).

The price of public transport in Mozambican cities is a constant source of tension since private operators dominate the sector, but with prices administered by the authorities.

With information from Sapo

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