21 buses donated by STCP will help mobility in Guinea-Bissau

At a time when Sociedade dos Transportes Coletivos do Porto (STCP) is accelerating its transition to more sustainable mobility - as evidenced by the recent acquisition of 48 electric vehicles - the operator is donating 21 diesel buses to Guinea-Bissau. The protocol was signed this Wednesday by the Mayor of Porto, the president of the transport company and the Guinean Minister of Transport. , Telecommunications and Digital Economy.

'These buses are currently circulating, in a perfect state of maintenance, and are going to be replaced with electric vehicles', said Rui Moreira at the ceremony which took place in the City Hall and was also attended by the director-general of the Guinea-Bissau Ports Administration, Felix Bulutna Nandungue, and the director-general of Road and Land Transport, Amadu Djaló.

The Mayor believes that 'it would be a shame if we were selling these off, instead of using them for a noble cause such as Portugal's cooperation with Guinea-Bissau', recalling other times when the Municipality of Porto has been involved in cooperation actions with Portuguese-speaking African countries,

'We are pleased to contribute to improving public transport in Bissau', Rui Moreira emphasised, considering that this is 'a matter that concerns us all'.

'In Africa, public transport is often not about replacing individual transport, but about creating a transport network that allows people to get where they want to go', he emphasises.

The 21 buses will therefore be donated with the full agreement of the other municipalities that are part of STCP.

For Guinea-Bissau's Minister of Transport, Telecommunications and Digital Economy, the donation 'represents a major contribution to combating the informality of the public transport sector, which we are still experiencing'. José Carlos Esteve recalled that today Guinean people travel in 'small buses, the toc toc which, because there are so many of them, cause excessive traffic jams'.

With the support of STCP and the municipality, the minister believes it will be possible to 'take a qualitative step forward in creating conditions for mobility and comfort', in line with the investment being made in infrastructure and urban public roads.

Present at the ceremony, the Secretary of State for Urban Mobility said that the moment 'clearly reflects the continuous cooperation that it [Portugal] has sought to establish with brother countries'. Jorge Delgado recalled that the donation proposal came up following a visit he made to Guinea-Bissau, where he noted the need to 'create a public transport network'.

'Faced with this concern, the response [from STCP and the Municipality of Porto] was positive from the outset', resulting from a 'total and absolute openness', the Secretary of State recognises. For Jorge Delgado, the donation of these 21 buses 'will be very useful for the quality of life' of Guinean people.