Mozambique: Five mining companies suspended in Manica – AIM report

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Mozambique: Five mining companies suspended in Manica – AIM report

5:20 CAT | 12 May 2025

File photo: Rádio Moçambique

The Mozambican government has ordered five mining companies to suspend their activities in the central province of Manica, because they have been accused of serious environmental crimes.

According to a report in Monday’s issue of the independent daily “O Pais”, these companies (which were not named in the report) are accused of polluting Manica rivers and of using dangerous chemicals, which have killed not only aquatic life, but also livestock drinking from the rivers.

The situation is particularly worrying, because many of the polluted rivers flow into the reservoir behind the Chicamba dam which provides drinking water for almost half the population of the province.

Visiting several of the mining companies, the Secretary of State for Mines, Jorge Daudo, was not pleased with what he saw. He told reporters that the companies have been carrying out their activities without observing environmental norms.

“I’m very indignant”, he said. “I was not expecting the situations that the companies are causing. We are facing pollution of the rivers, which is an environmental crime that has immediate effects”.

The problem was not mining in itself, but the way it is being done in Manica, said Daudo. There was no room for negotiating with the companies, he stressed – the only thing the authorities could do was suspend the activities of companies that are damaging the environment.

In addition to the suspensions, the companies will face administrative and legal proceedings, including heavy fines, and the imposition of compensation for the damage done to the environment and to local communities.

Source: AIM