Chinese company accused of illegal logging in Inhambane

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Chinese company accused of illegal logging in Inhambane

6:13 CAT | 16 Aug 2018

File photo / For illustration purposes only

Residents and the local authorities in the district of Funhalouro, in the southern Mozambican province of Inhambane, have accused Chinese loggers of illegally felling trees in the Tome administrative post, reports Thursday’s issue of the independent daily “O Pais”.

Reporters from the paper could see the material seized by the Funhalouro authorities – hundreds of tree trunks, trucks laden with logs, and other logging equipment, currently stored in a camp belonging to the administrative post.

The local authorities say the loggers are Chinese citizens who used to work in the central province of Zambezia, but came to Inhambane without any licence to operate in this province, and did not even introduce themselves to the authorities.

The head of the Tome locality, Joao Matsinhe, said that because the Chinese had no documents justifying their activities, their tractors, machines and other equipment were all impounded.

Legal timber operators in the district accuse the Chinese of unfair competition. “These are unknown people who seem to be Chinese”, said one of them. “They came here and have invaded the entire area”.

The workers employed by the Chinese loggers say they just received phone calls from their employers ordering them to go from Zambezia to Inhambane. They sent them money to cover the overland journey from Zambezia to the Inchope crossroads in Manica province. At Inchope company trucks were waiting for them and took them to Funhalouro.

The workers accused their employers of mistreating them. They compared the work at Funhalouro to “forced labour”, and complained of the poor diet provided by the Chinese company. Sometimes they would go for three days eating nothing but unseasoned maize porridge. Some workers have asked to return to Zambezia, but have received no reply from the employers.

The Chinese managers themselves refused to talk to reporters. “O Pais” said that, as soon as they saw that journalists were present the Chinese fled from the scene.

Source: AIM