The publicly owned companies such as Electricidade de Mocambique (EDM), the Telecomunicacoes de Mocambique (TDM), the Mozambique's Railway Company (CFM-EP) and the Mozambican Army, are the main victims of this trade that is inflicting huge losses to the Mozambican economy.
Large residential areas are often thrown into complete darkness for days in a row, with companies also forced to close their business because of the damage inflicted to power transmission lines or theft of aluminium and copper cables that are later exported to the regional markets such as South Africa or Asia, or Japan.
Earlier this week, the daily paper "Diario de Mocambique" reported that the theft of 400 meters of electrical cables in the Muchatazina area, in Beira, the capital of the central province of Sofala, left five neighbourhoods and about 4,000 residents without electricity.
The same paper also reported that about 600,000 residents of Beira are facing an imminent risk of being thrown into darkness due the sabotage of substation of a electricity in the suburb of Maquinino.
At CFM, thieves removed the rail lines and other fittings. Initially, the theft was restricted to materials made of bronze, but the trade has evolved and now includes nearly everything that is metal.
According to Friday's issue of the daily paper "Noticias", this trade is being fueled by Mozambican licensed companies and individuals, but also by others from Asian origin, who are coming to Mozambique to buy nearly everything that is metal, irrespective of its source, with the materials being immediately packed in containers for export.
It is this last group that is being blamed of buying the so called "forbidden materials", which means illegally obtained.
While for the Mozambican Army, CFM and TDM the losses incurred are incalculable, EDM has publicly complained that its losses amount to 6.5 million USD between 2001 and 2006, which can be translated into a loss of just over one million USD a year.
Between January and September 2006, EDM incurred a loss of nearly 600,000 USD, only in the central provinces of Sofala, Manica, Tete and Zambezia, and in 2006, it claimed that it was no longer able to replace the stolen materials.
In the first half of 2007, EDM's loss amounted to over 650.000 USD all over the country.
To prevent further damages to its infrastructures, the provincial government of the northern province of Nampula is planning to ban the trade on scrap metal.
Anarchy in Nampula is characterized by acts of vandalism and theft of metallic equipment against economic and social infrastructures perpetrated by criminals.
Not even the Nampula International Airport was spared by the criminals, that for two consecutive nights in June, the runway was plunged into darkness.
On each occasion, the airport staff only realized the transformers had been stolen as they made routine checks prior to the arrival of aircrafts.
On both nights, alternative lighting was rigged up for the landing of three planes.
The airport transformers do not exist on the Mozambican market and have to be imported. The loss of so many transformers in a short space of time has cost the Nampula Airport Company about 40,000 USD.
The transformers have no use other than runway lighting. The company can only imagine that the thieves stole them because they contain copper.
Presumably they intended to sell the metal to scrap merchants.
The banning was expressed during the recent 1st Ordinary Session of the Nampula government, when a consensus was reached that there is no more scrap metal for export and, therefore, the ban must be enforced, including issuing licenses for the establishment of new businesses operating in the trade of scarp metals.
For Nampula police provincial commander Francisco Vontade, banning the issuing of new licenses would help the authorities check the illegal trade.
Currently, there are in Nampula over 30 Mozambican and foreign companies operating in the business of scrap metal.
Felismino Tocoli, the governor of Nampula, described the situation as extremely serious, explaining that a task force will soon be established to conduct a study that will determine the exact moment to enforce the ban on the trade of scrap metal in that region.
Asked by "Noticias" to comment over the issue, National Ministry Industry and Trade Director Sergio Macamo admitted that the situation has reached the current level because the issue was never addressed seriously.
He explained that most of the companies that most used to absorb the scrap metals have gone bankrupt.
"A number of structural problems occurred in Mozambique that forced the companies to stop processing those materials", said Macamo, adding that the government is concerned with the situation and that a final decision will be taken once completed a new study that is being conducted into the issue. The study is expected to be completed by the last quarter of 2007.
The study , that includes some technical considerations, also covers other practices in the region.
"We have asked a copy from Tanzania to analyze their experience, because as you should know, that country is also concerned with the problem and is already discouraging the exports of scrap metals.
"Even the South Africans have already banned exports of scrap metals because they have a number of companies that use it as raw materials for their production. We don't want to re-invent anything. We want to find out how other countries are dealing with this situation", stressed Macamo.
SOURCE: AIM
