Brazilian ambassador says Moamba Major dam will go ahead – AIM report

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Brazilian ambassador says Moamba Major dam will go ahead – AIM report

4:31 CAT | 11 Nov 2016

Brazil has promised that it will honour its pledge to finance the construction of the Moamba Major dam, on the Umbeluzi river, despite the reassessment of Brazilian cooperation projects with Mozambique and other countries.

The pledge was given by Brazilian ambassador Rodrigo Soares, speaking to reporters after he was received by Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosario on Wednesday.

Soares claimed that the reassessment of projects in the cooperation portfolio that require public funds is a “normal procedure” in the context of the current changes in Brazil’s government (a reference to the impeachment of President Dilma Roussef). The reassessment, he added, is being made by Brazil’s National Economic and Social Development Bank (BNEDES).

BNEDES announced a month ago that it had suspended funding for projects of 25 Brazilian companies under investigation for corruption, including construction work in Mozambique and Angola.

The Brazilian companies are being investigated under Operacao Lavo Jato (Operation Car Wash), an investigation undertaken by the Brazilian Federal Police into allegations of money laundering and corruption. BNDES names the companies concerned as Odebrecht, OAS, Queiroz Galvão, Camargo Corrêa and Andrade Gutierrez.

The main project at risk in Mozambique was the Moamba Major dam, where the contractor is Andrade Gutierrez.

Soares, however, stressed that the Brazilian government wants to strengthen its cooperation with Mozambique, and claimed that Mozambique is currently the largest beneficiary of Brazilian cooperation in the world.

The first stone for the construction of Moamba Major was laid two years ago. When complete the dam will be able to store 760 million cubic metres of water. The dam can control the flow of the Incomati, and boost water supply for Maputo and Matola cities and the town of Ressano Garcia on the border with South Africa. The dam will also accommodate power station that can produce 15 megawatts of electricity.

The total cost of the dam is put at 466 million dollars. Through BNDES, Brazil had promised to provide 320 million dollars.

Asked about the scandal, unearthed by United States prosecutors, of the 800,000 dollar bribe paid by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer to as yet unnamed officials in Mozambique Airlines (LAM). Soares said “this case should be duly treated by the official channels, by the Attorney-General’s Office”.

There is no doubt that the bribe was paid. Embraer confessed to paying bribes in Mozambique, Saudi Arabia, India and the Dominican Republic, and has been fined over 200 million dollars by the US authorities (the Department of Justice, and the Securities and Exchange Commission).

Source: AIM