Mozambique: Closure of bars hits Beira brewery

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Mozambique: Closure of bars hits Beira brewery

8:57 CAT | 04 Jun 2020

FILE PHOTO: Municipal workers disinfect a closed bottle store in Beira, Mozambique , on April 11 2020. [File photo: Conselho Municipal da Beira]

The closure of bars and of market stalls selling alcoholic drinks, under the state of emergency regulations, has forced the brewery of the company CDM (Beers of Mozambique) in the central city of Beira to cut its production by 40 per cent, reports the Beira daily paper “Diario de Mocambique”.

CDM commercial manager Edgar Chissano told the paper that before the coronavirus pandemic, the Beira brewery was producing at full capacity.

But demand from the bars and stalls accounted for almost half the brewery’s output. They have been closed down, because of the fear that the crowds they attract may provide fertile grounds for the spread of the coronavirus that causes the Covid-19 respiratory disease.

People can still drink alcohol in restaurants, and can buy beer to take home in shops and bottle stores. But they cannot drink in the markets and on the streets.

Despite the fall in production, CDM has promised to continue to pay its workers normally, and to ensure continuity of production. It is implementing a shift system, rotating its workers so as to ensure the social distancing that provides a measure of protection against the coronavirus.

As part of its social responsibility, CDM is also distributing 1,000 face masks. 600 were given to Beira Municipal Council, and the other 400 are for CDM clients.

Accepting the masks from Chissano, the Mayor of Beira, Daviz Simango, promised to distribute them among sellers in the city’s markets.

Simango insisted that the citizens of Beira must obey the government’s emergency measures, in order to keep themselves safe, and avoid a collapse of the national health system.

Source: AIM