MOZAL General Manager Carlos Mesquita, representing the MOZAL Community Development Association, gave the cheque to the President of the Mozambican Red Cross (CVM), Marcelino Alexandre.
The money is to support about 6,000 people in Zambezia, particularly in the provincial capital, Quelimane, which was inundated by torrential rains in late January.
"This gift will help minimise the critical situation facing people who have lost almost all their possessions", Alexandre told AIM. "But since it cannot fully solve the problem, we appeal to all institutions to support victims of the floods, not only in Zambezia, but in all the affected provinces".
The CVM is one of the humanitarian groups that has volunteers working on the ground, assisting people affected by the floods.
"This is a gesture of solidarity with Zambezia province", said Mesquita. "We are sure that the Red Cross will use the funds in the best way possible to reduce the suffering of the flood victims".
Normally the MOZAL Community Development Association works to benefit people living in the vicinity of the smelter, and imposes a general rule that only projects within a 20 kilometre radius of the factory are eligible for assistance.
But when disaster strikes elsewhere in the country, MOZAL is not afraid to break its own rules.
"When we witness a disaster on the scale of what is now happening in the centre of the country, the MOZAL Association does not hesitate to act at once", declared the Association';s patron, Edna Namitete.
SORCE: AIM
