100 Cubic Metres Of Illegally Logged Timber Seized
Maputo, 8 Jan (AIM) – Mozambique’s National Environmental Quality Control Agency (AQUA) has ordered the seizure of 100 cubic metres of black chacate wood, illegally logged in the central province of Sofala.
The timber was being transported in four trucks, belonging to a forestry operator in the neighbouring province of Manica, who had no licence to operate in Sofala.
“This operator is authorized to work in Manica province, but he crossed the provincial boundary”, the AQUA delegate in Sofala, Morgado Mussengue, explained to reporters. “Instead of working in Tambara district (in Manica), he was logging in Chemba (Sofala)”.
The offence can incur a fine of over 900,000 meticais (about 14,000 US dollars, at the current exchange rate). The case will now go to court, said Mussengue, and, if the operator does not pay the fine within 15 days, the seized timber should be sold at public auction.
The trucks have been seized. Three are under police guard, while the fourth is still in Chemba, where its wheels became stuck in mud.
(AIM)
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