Mozambique: Boeing seeks $4.5M from LAM for alleged late parts supply payment
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The Minister of Transport and Communications admitted on Thursday (July 12) that the dismissal of the Board of Directors of the Mozambique Airlines may have been hasty.
“We must acknowledge that this is a very delicate industry, we must do the work with due investigation,” declared Carlos Mesquita when asked by @Verdade about the fact that more than a week after their dismissal, António Pinto and three other directors were still in office.
“First we must acknowledge that the government, through the IGEPE, did the work it had to do responsibly and made the decision according to the circumstances,” Mesquita declared on the sidelines of a convocation on the training of civil aviation personnel in Maputo.
The minister explained that since Thursday (July 5), when António Pinto, Hélder Fumo, Carlos Sitoe and Faizal Gafar were asked to resign after failing to effect the conveyance of the Mozambican prime minister to Lichinga, “flights had been resumed in a normal way, so we are covering all the schedules that are pre-established by the company Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique, and those passengers who had were delayed when there was no fuel and planes were unable to fly were taken care of in line with protocol and so far they have been proceeding normally”.
“This is synonymous with organisation, it is synonymous that the government, with the operator, has taken the necessary measures to ensure the operational aspects, safety and compliance with the responsibilities of LAM,” he said.
“As to the question of the appointment of a new management board, we must acknowledge that this is a very delicate industry, we must do the work with due investigation,the analysis of the curricula that we are already doing, within the requirements that are necessary for the industry and I believe that in a timely manner, as has already been announced by His Excellency the Prime Minister, we will announce that we have appointed a new management board and it is in activity,” Mesquita said.
Asked whether the government would be considering any kind of short-term financial injection for the airline to resume normal operations while continuing to search for an investment partner, Mesquita said: “The government is undertaking a detailed and in-depth assessment of LAM accounts because we know there are some cost items that have some fat, and we need to treat that fats the way it should be treated”.
But surely the government has every interest in keeping its flag airline up and running, and for that it must continue to provide the necessary support for it to be operating,” he concluded.
By Adérito Caldeira
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