The Manica provincial director of finance, Argentina Mausse, told the paper that FARE money had been lent to 76 individuals in Manica - 31 managers of rural shops, 23 owners of flour mills, eight transport operators, eight farmers, two carpenters and four in other areas.
But 47 of these small enterprises are no longer functioning, and so are not repaying the loans.
Mausse said it was not her department's responsibility to ensure that private businesses are run properly. "Our job is to ensure payment", she said. "We assume that the operation of each enterprise is up to the owner. Once he's obtained the loan, it's a private investment, and so it's up to him to ensure that his establishment or industry works".
The provincial finance directorate is now contacting the district governments to find out the exact situation of each beneficiary of FARE loans.
Mausse warned that those who think they can avoid repaying their loans may end up in court. The law, she pointed out, envisages collecting the money coercively in cases where debtors refuse to repay. That provision is in the contracts that each beneficiary signed.
In cases where the debtor has died, "We are working with the local administrations, because we have to know whether his relatives can continue the business in order to repay the money".
The 76 loans came to a total of 12.8 billion old meticais (about 512,000 US dollars), of which slightly more than five billion has been repaid. The FARE repayment periods vary, depending on the activity concerned, but are never longer than five years.
SOURCE: AIM
