INAE closes 90 commercial establishments; “most of the situations involved arrests”

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INAE closes 90 commercial establishments; “most of the situations involved arrests”

2:12 CAT | 29 Jul 2020

Photo: Noticias

The Mozambican National Inspectorate of Economic Activities (INAE) closed 90 commercial establishments across the country in the past two weeks for breach of state of emergency Covid-19 provisions, an institution source told Lusa on Tuesday.

INAE closed bars and ‘barracas’ (informal stalls) selling alcoholic beverages in defiance of the closure order in effect since April 1st.

“Most of the situations involved arrests, because these establishments had already been closed or warned several times,” INAE spokesman Tomás Timba said.

The closure of bars and stalls selling alcohol and other similar spaces is aimed at preventing people gathering in crowds without observing ‘social distancing’.

“By nature, these establishments should be closed, but it turns out that they kept operating clandestinely, in response to demand,” he added.

The closure of the establishments resulted from the inspection of 1,327 commercial establishments by the INAE.

Timba noted that carelessness among economic agents regarding Covid-19 containment was common in ‘entertainment establishments’, which had shown a tendency to return to normality, contrary to the Government’s efforts to contain the spread of the pandemic.

The INAE had also seized a quantity of out-of-date and poorly preserved products, including sausages, sugar, cooking oil, juices, beer, soft drinks and corn flour, to an estimated value of 120,000 meticais.

Source: Lusa / Noticias