Mozambique: Italy to disburse 3.2 million dollars for mangrove restoration on Inhaca
Mozambique’s wealth should, in the first instance, benefit Mozambicans and not just opportunists, regardless of whether they are Mozambicans or foreigners, declared President Filipe Nyusi on Wednesday.
He was speaking at a rally in the district of Mecula, in the northernmost province of Niassa, where local people complained that they were not benefitting from the district’s wildlife, forestry and mineral wealth because of illicit plundering of these resources.
“We say no to illegal mining. No to illegal logging. No to poaching. No, no and no!”, declared Nyusi, as he urged his audience to continue denouncing illegal activities that threatened the district’s natural resources.
He said that, earlier in the day, during a visit to the Niassa National Reserve, the largest conservation area in Mozambique, he had been informed of the looting practiced by poachers and other illegal operators.
“Many of the illegal miners are not even Mozambicans”, said Nyusi. “Worse still, when they steal our resources, particularly gold, they pollute the rivers. They sell this wealth outside the country, without benefitting the population of Mecula, much less the Mozambican people”.
The sustainable management of the resources in the Niassa Reserve, he added, is a serious matter “and so we are working on the procedures that must be followed”.
At the rally residents complained of buffaloes eating their crops. They asked the government to provide them with tractors so that they can move their crops before the buffaloes devour them.
Nyusi cited an “interesting experience” in handling conflicts between people and wild life. This was the joint management of a hunting area between the Association of Natives of Mecula and a foreign investor. “We must capitalize on this initiative”, he said.
People who spoke at the rally also asked for a new hospital and an ambulance in Mecula, for the opening of bank branches, and for improvements in roads, electricity and water supply.
Nyusi replied that in the recent past, “Mecula had no electricity, no roads, no mobile phone network, but now it has them”. Electricity and reliable communications were among the pre-conditions demanded by the commercial banks before they will open branches in the districts.
“They also demand a greater volume of production, so that there is money”, he added. “The government is doing all in its power to convince the owners of the banks to set up branches in districts. It is not possible to do everything at once, because development is built gradually”.
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