Ondjiva – At least 17 from a total of 18 public transport operators in possession of buses and minibuses granted on credit as part of the Urban Mobility Reinforcement Program in Angola’s southern Cunene province have failed to pay off the debt contracted since 2017.
The information was disclosed to ANGOP on Wednesday by the director of the Transport, Traffic and Urban Mobility Office in Cunene, Geraldina Paredes, adding that only one operator has been regularly paying off debts, while the remaining 17 have only made 10 percent of the payment.
Geraldina Paredes explained that each transport company paid the state an initial amount of 2.9 million kwanzas and were expected to pay 461,976 kwanzas every month for a period of 10 years in a total of 120 installments.
In view of the situation, the official said, the Ministry of Transport is studying measures to apply to defaulters, emphasizing that several meetings have been held with the beneficiaries to make the collections, but so far have failed.
Joaquim Muala, owner of one the transport company that acquired five buses, said low invoicing, aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic, is the reason for his failure to fulfill his regular obligations.
Operator Francisco Buleth, another transport owner, asked for greater understanding on the part of the Ministry of Transport, emphasising that the handover of the buses came at a time when passenger mobility was interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
He also pointed to the economic and financial problems faced by many companies and the low fares, as aspects that conditioned the regular fulfillment of obligations. FI/LHE/AC/DAN/AMP
