Africa-Press – Angola. Angolan food retail and distribution companies today called the protests followed by looting of commercial establishments, particularly in Luanda, a “disaster,” noting that the recovery costs and losses are yet to be assessed.
“At this moment, the associated companies have suffered some kind of disaster and are surveying and evaluating the cost and recovery time to submit to the Government and see what solution we can find,” said the president of the Association of Modern Commerce and Distribution Companies of Angola (ECODIMA), Raul Mateus.
Speaking to Lusa on the third and final day of the taxi drivers’ strike in Luanda, after two consecutive days of riots, acts of vandalism, chaos and looting of commercial establishments, the official admitted that companies with merchandise insurance could be reimbursed.
Raul Mateus said he did not believe there was insurance to cover vandalism due to the “extremely high costs.” However, he noted that contacts were already underway with government authorities to mitigate the costs of affected companies.
“I believe that vandalism insurance doesn’t exist because it’s quite expensive, the costs are extremely high, but we’ve been working with the government to find ways for it to mitigate these expenses for companies, and it’s been an ongoing dialogue,” he noted.
Without providing figures, the president of ECODIMA said that companies continue to assess their losses, noting that the process must be detailed and have legal support, at a time when companies are closed and without employees.
“Making an assessment becomes difficult, we will wait, because this has to have documentary support for us to be credible and only begin dialogue to compensate the losses that the companies suffered,” he argued.
Several warehouses belonging to different commercial chains operating in Luanda were vandalized and looted on Monday and Tuesday by several citizens, following the strike called by the National Association of Taxi Drivers of Angola (ANATA), which has already condemned and distanced itself from such acts.
Scenes of looting in commercial establishments were also recorded in the provinces of Bengo and Icolo e Bengo, as reported by the Angolan press and confirmed by the national police.
Raul Mateus explained, on the other hand, that the closure of some companies, following the acts of vandalism, aimed to safeguard the lives of employees and customers, stating that the institutions are awaiting a statement from the authorities for the safe resumption of work.
“When the authorities issue a statement stating that there is stability, then we will resume commercial activity, but bear in mind that companies are suffering losses, especially because they are closed. At the end of the month, they have financial burdens, they have to pay salaries and a series of commitments that are not being reduced,” he noted.
The leader of ECODIMA, which has 75 members in all Angolan provinces, condemned the riots that occurred with looting in warehouses and commercial establishments, saying that the action was an “exploitation by criminals.”
“According to what I heard from ANATA’s statement, taxi drivers were not motivated to hoard, this is a crime, so much so that the populations themselves in some neighborhoods have been running with these criminals (…), because with this the country loses, the economy loses and many people become unemployed, which is something we must avoid”, concluded the Angolan businessman.
At least 22 people have died and 197 others have been injured following the riots that took place in Luanda over the past two days, as announced today by the Minister of the Interior, Manuel Homem, guaranteeing that the public security situation in the country “is stable”.
For More News And Analysis About Angola Follow Africa-Press
