The Maputo municipality is moving forward with public-private partnerships to concession abandoned spaces such as gardens and parks, in an attempt to secure investments and restore well-being to the population of the Mozambican capital.
“Because what constitutes municipal revenues, what is produced by the municipality itself, is not yet sufficient to cover the administrative costs of operating the Municipal Council,” Alexandre Muianga, the councilor responsible for Economic Activities and Tourism, told Lusa.
The measure, he explained, embodies the large mid- and long-term projects and initiatives of Maputo City Council, noting that the municipality currently owns about 30 parks and gardens, and is concessioning their management through partnerships with various private entities, which become responsible for their management, occupying part of the land.
These contracts can provide for a term of up to 10 years of operation, during which the concessionaire must pay a fee to the municipality, as agreed, and, at the end of the contract, return the space, properly maintained, to the municipality.
The most recent case, with the tender underway, foresees the concession of one more space in central Maputo: Jardim do Largo da Ilha de Moçambique.
Alexandre Muianga stressed that these are investment projects that ‘require a little more attention’ from the authorities, where entrepreneurs request the spaces to manage them through municipal tenders.
He also revealed that one of the ‘big challenges’ for the municipality in these partnerships concerns the clauses for the exploitation of the concessioned public spaces, which determine the use of only 15% of the space to be occupied by private infrastructure, regardless of the investment.
“First, one must consider the nature of the investment and, second, whether effectively the occupied area will allow the other space to continue benefiting the population and the public, the citizens in general. This is why, when we evaluate proposals, we must consider that the occupancy area should not exceed 15% of the available space,” said Alexandre Muianga.
The municipality is considering opening space for initiatives that prioritize the maintenance of green spaces, recalling that it has already rejected some projects due to disparity in proposals, as is the case with this latest process for Jardim do Largo da Ilha de Moçambique.
“We refined the terms of reference to ensure clarity about the available area and the area to be explored. We prioritize the maintenance of green space, we favor initiatives that will safeguard access for the population and communities for reading, for leisure, for rest as well,” added the councilor.
The objective, he insisted, is to ensure proposals close to the current reality, with high demand for spaces for leisure.
Specifically, that ‘abandoned’ garden is still without any vegetation, but the plan is to create an ‘environment of well-being’ there for children and adults in that area, described by Muianga, justifying the expectation that the future concessionaire will guarantee a space with water and vegetation, becoming a ‘fundamental ecological value,’ when properly exploited.
In the surroundings of that garden, in the Malhangalene neighborhood, in the heart of the Mozambican capital, there are ‘great references’ of Mozambican culture, from the arts to music and traditions.
“For that reason, we have to restore green space to that location,” the councilor said, stressing the priority of finding an investor who is “eco-friendly,” who values the communities, the green space, recognizing that the current image of the garden “is not the best.”
