Maputo, 23 Aug (AIM) – The Mozambican National Agency for Environmental Quality Control (AQUA) and the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) are working legally on the complaint addressed by residents of Moatize district on the negative environmental impact of coal mining.
The residents of eight Moatize neighborhoods recently made public a letter calling on the Indian company Vulcan, which owns an enormous open cast coal mine in the district, to implement measures to mitigate the negative environmental impact of coal mining in the region.
Days later, the company, in response, claimed be looking for sustainable solutions to avoid the pollution caused by coal mining, “because despite the great efforts to control particulates emission, there are still huge challenges to overcome, since in this type of activity, it is common for particulates to be emitted.”
According to AQUA Legal Officer, Danilo Liasse, cited by the independent newsheet “Carta de Moçambique”, the authorities are seeing if there is any material in the complaint for administrative liability for the imposition of fines.
The PGR, he said, intends to assess the criminal matter so that, if necessary, it can take the appropriate measures to hold the Indian company accountable.
“In addition to AQUA and the PGR, other organizations were involved in the multi-sector team. However, there is not yet any data on the results of the team’s work because work is still taking place in the field”, he said.
(AIM)
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