Luanda: Angolan Minister of Public Works, Urban Planning and Housing, Carlos dos Santos, articulated in Luanda on Wednesday that the road network is a pivotal element in enhancing production in significant sectors like agriculture, trade, industry, and tourism. His remarks were made during the 23rd edition of Caf©Cipra, themed 'Road construction as a driver of national production', where he emphasized the 79,300-kilometre national road network's direct influence on the country's economic performance.
According to Angola Press News Agency, Minister dos Santos pointed out the advancements in the sector and detailed the Government's sustained efforts to rehabilitate, modernize, and maintain roads and bridges in recent years. He noted that approximately 27,600 kilometres of the national road network form the main network, connecting provincial capitals and national borders, with about 12,100 kilometres, or between 43 and 45 per cent, being paved.
The minister detailed the municipal road network, comprising secondary and tertiary roads totaling 51,700 kilometres, of which 15,100 kilometres are currently paved. He reflected on the historical challenges the sector faced, noting the significant deterioration of the road network following the post-independence period's armed conflict, which reduced it from 75,000 kilometres to approximately 51,000 kilometres by 2002.
To address these challenges, the minister highlighted the strategies of recovery, maintenance, and construction launched in 2003 with the Road Infrastructure Rehabilitation Programme (PRIR). He reaffirmed the sector's implementation of weighing, toll-road, and unpaved-road programmes aimed at ensuring the durability of road infrastructure and slowing the rapid deterioration of asphalt.
Minister dos Santos explained that the weighing programme focuses on installing weighbridges along major road corridors to regulate traffic and combat overloading, thereby preventing premature road wear. He described the toll-road programme as a supplementary mechanism for generating revenue dedicated to ongoing road maintenance, while the unpaved-road programme ensures continuous road access in rural areas, aiding in the transport of agricultural and mining products to major consumer centers.
He concluded by stating, 'Maintaining the road network is the sector's main challenge and is essential to boosting the economy, promoting employment and driving the country's sustainable socio-economic development.'
