Almost all companies which closed in 2020 due to Covid-19 have reopened

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Almost all companies which closed in 2020 due to Covid-19 have reopened

2:41 CAT | 12 Oct 2021

Photo: Ministério do Trabalho e Segurança Social

More than 97% of the companies that closed because of the Covid-19 pandemic over the last year have reopened, Minister of Labour and Social Security Margarida Talapa announced on Monday, without advancing concrete numbers.

With the reduction of Covid-related infections, deaths and hospitalizations, and the subsequent lifting of some restrictions, many companies have reopened their doors, Minister Talapa said.

“We were able to manage and mediate the problems we were having on a day-to-day basis. Today, we can reaffirm that 97% of the business institutions that, last year, had closed their doors, have today resumed their activities. The workers received their compensation, some resumed their activities and managed to follow up on the situation, case by case. We had no serious problems,” the minister stressed.

However, Margarida Talapa did not provide details of the companies that had reopened in the context of the relief of pandemic restrictions.

According to the Confederation of Economic Associations of Mozambique, by April this year, more than half of the 1,075 companies which closed their doors due to the Covid-19 crisis had resumed activities.

But, according to the Mozambican Workers’ Organisation (Central Sindical) general secretary, Alexandre Munguambe, there has been little improvement in the areas affected by armed violence.

“The armed conflicts that devastate our country are once again creating problems for development, due to their negative impact on the economy and on the social life of the populations. Due to these events, entire companies in the conflict zones closed their doors and laid off their workers temporarily or permanently,” Munguambe said.

Margarida Talapa, Alexandre Munguambe and other stakeholders were speaking at the opening of the 11th National Meeting of the Labour Mediation and Arbitration Commission (COMAL) in Maputo on Monday (11-10).

Within the scope of the event, the Minister of Labour and Social Security provided information on the services provided by COMAL, including paid indemnities.

The event, which takes place under the motto “COMAL’s Challenges for the Introduction of Labour Arbitration in Mozambique”, ends this Tuesday.

By Isaura Manjate

Source: O País