Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Mozambican authorities have detained five individuals allegedly involved in illegal transport of timber on the border between the districts of Chiúta and Moatize, in the central province of Tete.
During the operation, the National Environmental Quality Control Agency (AQUA), in coordination with the Mozambican Police (PRM), as part of measures to control and protect forest resources, dismantled three articulated trucks transporting huge amounts of timber at the Dona Rosa Fixed Forestry Inspection Post, located on the border between the two districts.
“Three articulated trucks were stopped, two with Zambian license plates and one with a Mozambican license plate, transporting containers loaded with sawn timber, in planks and semi-squared logs, of the Chanfuta and Umbila species. On site, it was found that the cargo lacked any documentation attesting to its legality, a fact that constitutes a serious violation of forestry legislation”, reads a statement.
As a result of the offence, the detainees were fined two million meticais (about 31,000 dollars at the current exchange rate) and the equipment used in the illicit logging was seized.
Also within the framework of combating forestry crime, the authorities seized in the central port city of Beira, various types of timber, including “56 planks and 87 boards of Chanfuta, 12 planks and 30 boards of Panga-panga, as well as eight beams of Umbila.”
The timber was being transported on a vessel from the district of Mongicual, in Nampula province, to Vilankulo, in the southern province of Inhambane.
“During the inspection, the legal documentation for the cargo was requested, and it was found that the timber was being transported without any license. As a consequence of the offence, a fine of 500,000 meticais was imposed, and the person responsible for the vessel was detained”, reads the note.
AQUA guarantees that it will continue strengthening inspections, preventing the illegal exploitation of forest resources, “and combating all forms of environmental crime, contributing to the sustainable management of natural heritage for the benefit of current and future generations of Mozambicans.”
