Mozambique Expands Coal Port, to Criticism from Environmentalists
In an old warehouse next to the fishing quay of Maputo port, dignitaries and journalists are gathered, in the height of summer, for two hours of speeches. As they swelter in business suits, two-metre high air con units struggle to process the hot, humid air.
The occasion? Mozambique’s capital can now accommodate the largest ocean-going vessels, after a programme of dredging. Previously, such ships would chug on past to South African ports.
“Markets change, economies adjust, new opportunities arise, but if there is something that can always be a source of wealth, it is our privileged access to the sea,” says transport minister Carlos Mesquita.
Today, the hot commodity, stockpiled on a concrete slab here and traded upriver at Matola terminal, is coal – destined to be burned in an Indian power station. Mozambique plans a massive expansion of this export market, despite warnings from government disaster agencies the port may be fuelling its own destruction.
NASA Johnson