Africa-Press – Angola. The Chief of Staff of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA), aviation general Altino dos Santos, defended Thursday, the creation of the National Maritime High Authority (AAMN) to facilitate the coordination of actions in favor of national interest.
General Altino dos Santos suggests that the National High Maritime Authority, once created, be a body that guarantees the safety and control of navigation, preservation of natural resources, protection of underwater cultural heritage and the marine environment and prevention and combat of pollution.
The soldier was speaking at the conference on “National and regional maritime security: perspectives in the face of new threats”, which marked the opening of the festivities of the 47th anniversary of the foundation of the Angolan Navy (MGA), to be celebrated on 10 July.
It hopes that the body will also have, among its responsibilities, maritime signaling and navigation aids, inspection of the economic use of resources, protection of mangroves, maritime rescue and on the coastline and public health, as well as the fight against drug trafficking, terrorism, piracy and illegal migration.
The FAA Chief of General Staff assured that the Navy is in better conditions to carry out its role of defending the maritime space from any aggression.
He stated that it is prepared, in coordination with the other branches of the FAA, to ensure that there is a blue, clean, safe sea, with plenty of food and wealth for the people and a leverage factor for the national economy.
He referred that MGA can be proud that, in addition to the new ships and those that will gradually arrive in the country, a significant part of the expansion and modernization works of the naval base of Soyo, the largest in infrastructure in the field, since Independence National.
He defended a permanent inspection of the oceans to avoid a shortage of fish products and less income for the national economy.
He underlined that unreported and unregulated illegal fishing constitutes a serious threat to economic sovereignty and to the population, and therefore must be combated.
General Altino dos Santos advocated the need to publicize, from an early age, the Angolan maritime potential among national citizens, regarding leisure capacity, clean beaches, blue waters, water sports, the need to preserve the environment, and its economic advantages .
The CEMG of the FAA praised the country’s efforts towards the decarbonization of the environment, the reconstitution of the coastal ecosystem, with the massive planting of mangroves, important for capturing carbon and releasing oxygen, as well as being a place for the reproduction of species.
In addressing “operational perspectives on maritime security”, the commander of the Angolan Navy (MGA), Admiral Valentim António, considered international cooperation essential to guarantee the safety and protection of the seas.
Admiral Valentim António pointed out as the main challenges the fight against piracy and smuggling of human beings, drugs and weapons to guarantee the safety of the seas and avoid negative repercussions on the economies of the States.
He declared that the navy is more useful in peacetime as it acts as a deterrent to threats, supports foreign policy and boosts maritime surveillance.
He said that along with strengthening the navy, it was necessary to invest in the functionality of the ports and in the interconnection of the Luanda, Benguela and Moçâmedes railways to speed up the flow of goods.
In her lecture, the director of the Fisheries and Agriculture Inspection Institute, Maria de Matos Mendes, proclaimed the strengthening of international cooperation to combat “illegal, unauthorized and unregulated fishing”, as it constitutes one of the main threats to marine life.
Maria Mendes added that unauthorized and unregulated fishing, generally using inadequate means, could reduce biomass, compromise the reproduction of species, deprive States of financial resources and increase unemployment and hunger.
The director of the Institute for Fisheries and Agriculture Inspection stressed that efforts were being made to improve fishing inspections in the approximately 200 miles of the national exclusive zone, with the use of electronic equipment and an inspector on board.
He promised to continue with awareness campaigns for fishermen and spoke of the need to establish a landing point for artisanal fishing, to facilitate its control.
In turn, the head of the Department of Environmental Education at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Palmiro Marcolino, pointed out among the new challenges of sustainable development the safeguarding of ecosystems, essentially marine.
He considered it essential that every citizen do their part to improve environmental quality, mainly reducing the number of families defecating in the open air and the use of plastics, which he pointed out as the greatest global threat.
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