The pipeline to Matola branches-off at Ressano Garcia, on the South African border. This work should have been completed by December, but this proved impossible as the construction workers, many of whom are South African citizens, were granted one month's leave for the festive season. Completion of the Matola pipeline is now due during the first half of this year. Two teams are laying the line, one starting at Ressano Garcia, and the other starting at the industrial area in Matola. The processing centre in the Matola neighbourhood of Mussumbulucu, from where the gas will be distributed to the consumers, has been completed. Luke Zulu, in charge of the work at the Matola suburb of Liberdade, said that, but for the interruption for Christmas, the pipelaying would already be completed. "Because we don' have a plans of the water pipes and electricity and telephone cables along the road, we sometimes damaged them when using excavators to open the 2-m deep ditches. Now we prefer to do that job manually, which makes it very slow", he said. He added, however, that despite this constraint, the commitment of the construction teams will allow the job to be completed and distribution of gas to be started within the first half of 2005. The pipes are 219.1mm diameter, and 15mm wall thickness, and will initially transport 5,500cum/hr of gas, increasing to 21,850cum/hr as the number of consumers grows.