Africa-Press – Cape verde. ENAPOR has officially taken over the management of the cold storage platform at the port of São Vicente, following the reversal of the sub-concession previously awarded to the company Atunlo. The information was confirmed today by the Minister of the Sea, Jorge Santos, who indicates that, at this moment, work is underway to restore the facilities and train workers.
“At the moment, Enapor is already intervening and is already restoring the platform. Ship 2 is already in operation. In a few days, Enapor will announce that this same ship will be able to receive fish from our national and international shipowners. So, we are restoring the platform, which was in a complicated situation. With the reversal, it was concluded that interventions were necessary. The interventions are taking place,” he says.
In February, ENAPOR took over all of Atunlo’s assets, due to the non-compliance with the concession contract by the Spanish fish processing factory, located in Porto Grande do Mindelo and inactive for over a year.
At the time, it was announced that a new partner was expected to start operating the cold complex between March and April.
When asked about the announcement made in April that the government was negotiating with three partners the sub-concession for the management of the cold complex, Jorge Santos said that negotiations are still ongoing, but stressed that the sub-concession will be made with the platform already in operation.
“The platform is being restored and negotiations are taking place, meaning we are no longer at the stage we were in. Therefore, as a precaution, we decided to restore the platform as much as possible, put it into operation under ENAPOR management and, from there, negotiate calmly with these partners for its sub-concession, with a greater appreciation of the platform itself,” he assures.
Mercadona, in the supermarket sector, JEALSA, one of the largest Spanish companies in the canning sector, and the UBAGO Group, owner of the Frescomar canning company, were named as the partners in negotiations.
On another front, Jorge Santos mentioned that Atunlo caused great harm to Cape Verde.
“This process is currently in the courts. Cape Verde had to reverse the decision. There are guarantees that have already been activated. The process is also taking place in international courts. And at this point there is already an assessment, but the company has gone bankrupt, not only here, at an international level, the company also has a liquidation entity”, he indicates.
Remembering that Atunlo was inaugurated in 2015, as a European investment aimed at placing the archipelago at the forefront of fish exports. Activities were suspended, leaving around 200 families without wages or with wages in arrears, however, paid by ENAPOR.
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