Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)

Following Tuesday's serious rioting in Maputo over fare increases, the Mozambican government has announced that it will meet again with the private transport operators.

The Transport Ministry and the Federation of Road Transport Associations negotiated for three days last week and agreed on fare increases of up to 50 per cent for the private minibuses (colloquially known as "chapas") that provide much of the Mozambican capital's passenger transport.

This agreement stipulated that the chapa fare for a journey of up to five kilometres would rise from five to 7.5 meticais, and for longer distances from 7.5 to 10 meticais (at current exchange rates there are about 24 meticais to the US dollar).

The new fares were to have taken effect on Tuesday - but early in the morning crowds of angry youths in several parts of the city physically prevented vehicles from taking to the streets. They demanded a return to the old fares, and were heard chanting "Five meticais! Five meticais!"

Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the Mozambican cabinet, Transport Minister Antonio Mungwambe said government members would meet with FEMATRO again on Tuesday evening - but he did not explain whether the government would be asking the operators to agree to a cut in the fares.

Mungwambe said the situation was such that urgent measures are needed, hence the government's insistence that there must be an immediate meeting with the transport operators.

"Faced with a situation like this, the government's action is to harmonise interests", he said. "We shall work with the association (FEMATRO) to explore all means that allow us to find a solution so that the prevailing situation may be corrected".

FEMATRO representatives, interviewed by Mozambican television channels, have blamed the government for the crisis, and have demanded that the government subsidise the fuel used by chapas.

When reporters asked Mungwambe if the government was considering a subsidy for the private transporters, he merely replied that it would seek "viable ways" of helping alleviate the costs of transport activity.

The government, he added, has already been undertaking activity to support the private transport sector, by facilitating the acquisition of more minibuses at preferential interest rates. This, he pointed out, was a form of subsidy.

As for cheaper fuel, that all depended on the transport operators organizing themselves in term of management and accounts, and then presenting themselves to the local finance departments. "The government has already advanced with measures to subsidise the private sector", Mungwambe said. "But now it's up to the transporters to organise themselves to this end".

Mungwambe said that in the negotiations with FEMATRO the concerns of both the transporters and the public would be taken into consideration.

Deputy Interior minister Jose Mandra told the reporters that he believed the situation on the streets of Maputo was returning to normal, but he warned that the police would take "drastic measures" if the situation deteriorated again So far, he added, the police had only used rubber bullets to control the crowds.

He did not believe that those taking part in the riots were users of the chapas, and described them as "opportunists and children".

Mandra said that one man has been detained for attempting to set a police officer on fire. Nine people have been wounded, and the rioters smashed the windows of six vehicles, and also the windows of a secondary school.

He again denied a report carried by the television station STV that one person had died in the clashes, in the neighbourhood of Malhangalene. STV, citing eye-witnesses, said this victim was a passer-by who was hit by a stray police bullet.