Maputo, 6 Mar (AIM) – The Mozambican Public Prosecutor’s Office has asked the Maputo City Administrative Tribunal to declare null and void the municipal licences granting land use rights to Top Logistica, a company that intends to build a residential complex on top of mangroves in the Costa do Sol neighbourhood.
A statement from the Public Prosecutor’s Office stresses that the mangroves constitute an area of environmental protection which the Mozambican state has the duty to preserve under international protocols for the conservation of biodiversity.
Nonetheless, Maputo Municipal Council had granted Top Logistica the right to build on two plots of land which are currently part of the mangrove forest.
The Attorney-General’s Office (PGR) had warned the Council that granting land use rights in this area is illegal. It asked the Council to revoke the licences granted to Top Logistics.
But the Council has tried to overrule the PGR. It claimed it had followed all the correct procedures in granting the licences and had no intention of revoking them.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office said this intransigent stance by the Council left it with no alternative but to appeal to the Administrative Tribunal.
The note from the Public Prosecutor stressed that “socio-economic development must be sustainable” and “under no circumstances can it call into question the fundamental rights of citizens”.
(AIM)
Cc/sg/pf (227)
