Africa-Press – Botswana. The Massabi border, which separates Cabinda (Angola) and the Ponta-Negra region (Congo Brazzaville), closed more than two years ago, in compliance with measures to prevent and combat the Covid-19 pandemic, has resumed the circulation of people and goods.
The Minister of State and head of the Military House of the President of the Republic, Francisco Furtado, who also coordinates the Interministerial Commission for the prevention and fight against Covid-19, guided the monitoring of cross-border crimes, such as fuel smuggling, currency, trafficking in human beings, in order to avoid instability in free transit.
“We hope that the people will take advantage of this opportunity, with the reopening of the border, making the most of the potential of each of the countries, so that our worthy Presidents continue to see in us the responsibility that encloses us in maintaining stability. “, he said.
Francisco Furtado, who made such considerations, on Tuesday, during the ceremony to reopen the border, argued that it limits only the territories, and not the peoples, since they belong to the same origins, whose families cohabit in the shared region. “The two peoples, from Cabinda and Ponta-Negra, have always lived together in a healthy and friendly environment, so much so that, during the 25 months in which free movement at the border was interrupted, the distress of the populations was remarkable”, he stressed.
The province of Cabinda has ties of fraternity and cooperation at various levels with the Ponta-Negra region, which has allowed the transit of goods from Congo to Angola, through the Ponta-Negra Commercial Port. “Today we take an important step, by re-establishing this circulation, for the good of both populations”, considered the Minister of State.
In relation to biosecurity and individual protection measures, as well as vaccination, the Minister of State and head of the Military House of the President of the Republic, Francisco Furtado, said that Angola had reached very satisfactory levels, which allowed the situation to be alleviated and the removal of various restrictions such as those limiting free movement.
The coordinator of the Multisectoral Commission explained to the Congolese authorities that Angola has particularities in the aspects of health control and surveillance, “it is necessary to increase cooperation to remove the obstacles that prevent the free movement of people and goods”.
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