Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Board of Directors of Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique (LAM) removed the operations, technical and commercial directors, citing the ongoing restructuring of the state airline, the need to “create greater dynamism” and promote “continuous improvement”.
According to two service orders to which Lusa had access, the decision was taken today, in an extraordinary meeting of the Board of Directors, with Hilário Tembe, director of operations, being removed, with immediate effect, replaced by Alexandre Barradas, Pascoal Bernardo, technical director , replaced by Agira Nhabanga, and Maria Luísa Ferreira, commercial director, replaced by Firmino Naftal.
The South African company Fly Modern Ark (FMA) took over the management of LAM in April, moving forward with a process of revitalizing the Mozambican state airline.
The Minister of Transport and Communications of Mozambique, Mateus Magala, previously said that the objective of this management is to make LAM a “respected” company.
“We’re not there yet, but the steps that have been taken from April to now are to be commended. I think that the transformation, the change, is going in the direction we would like to see,” said Magala.
The executive director of the FMA, Theunis Crous, stated on September 14 that he found at LAM “situations of corruption”, provision of services above market values and others without contracts, holding administrators responsible.
“They managed the company as they wanted”, said Crous, in a meeting with journalists, in Maputo, refusing to reveal whether or not these cases were reported to the competent authorities, such as the Attorney General’s Office.
Theunis Crous said, however, that the FMA was preparing an “exhaustive report” of these practices and that some of these directors remain in the company and were “resistant to change”.
He even described that some of these people “brought the company down”.
Severe financial difficulties led the Government in April to place the Mozambican flag company under the management of the FMA.
Among other situations revealed by Theunis Crous is an alleged increase in remuneration decided by the then administration, for the administrators themselves, approved last January, of 100 thousand meticais (1,468 euros) per month, “when the Government was looking for a solution for management” from LAM.
“We immediately stopped this,” he said, guaranteeing that these administrators were asked to return these payments received from January to May.
The manager added that they found cases of aircraft chartered for prices well above market values, services provided to LAM that, in addition to high prices, did not offer quality, such as ‘catering’, and others paid without invoicing or contracts.
“When we arrived, a Boeing had been in Johannesburg for seven months undergoing repairs that should have been done in 30 days”, he further exemplified, demanding responsibility, but guaranteeing that LAM is viable.
“The company’s greatest asset is the loyalty of Mozambicans to the LAM brand, which despite problems always comes back”, admitted Theunis Crous.
For More News And Analysis About Mozambique Follow Africa-Press
