The Mozambican government will analyse the environmental
impact of using the Zambezi River to transport coal mined in Tete
province, as suggested by mining group Rio Tinto, said Mozambique's
Minister for Transport and Communications.
Last week, the chief executive of Rio Tinto, Doug Ritchie, told
Mozambican President Armando Guebuza, that the group saw the
Zambezi as a viable alternative for exporting the coal mined at its
concessions in Tete province, in central Mozambique.
Speaking to Portuguese news agency Lusa, minister Paulo Zucula
said that the government would analyse the study of the
navigability of the Zambezi River carried out by Rio Tinto for the
environmental impacts of its use by large draught ships,
particularly in terms of the effect of dredging the river, the
survival of local flora and fauna and the risk of flooding.
"We are not against the use of rivers for transport; navigating
rivers is good. We are interested in knowing the impact in the case
of navigation by large draught ships, because this is related to
dredging, the depth of the river, flooding and the survival of the
population," noted Zucula.
The sue of the Zambezi River to transport coal from Tete, the
province with the world's largest coal reserves, has been
questioned by environmental organisations, due to fears of
degradation of the ecosystem, which is fundamental for the survival
of the population of central and northern Mozambique.
Navigability tests on the Chire River carried out last year in
Malawi, a country neighbouring Mozambique with no direct access to
the sea, caused tension between the governments of the two
countries because Maputo decided to prevent navigation of
large-draught ships on the river unless environmental studies were
carried out.
(source: macauhub)