Guebuza was speaking at the ceremony to receive a new dredger, the 'Alcantara Santos', donated by Japan, and built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in the Japanese shipyard of Kobe. The dredger will be used to ensure that the access channel to Beira is always kept at the correct depth.
Guebuza hoped that the regular dredging of the channel would open "good prospects for more cargo vessels using this port".
He stressed the responsibility of the Transport Ministry and of the publicly-owned dredging company, Emodraga, in ensuring that all the main Mozambican ports remain accessible to shipping.
Their job was "to stimulate the transport and communications system to the benefit of our economy, and of the economies of the other member countries of SADC (Southern African Development Community)".
Japanese ambassador Tatsuya Miki recognised that Beira's location makes it a strategically crucial port for southern Africa. But lack of adequate dredging capacity had put serious constraints on the port's capacity - a problem that he believed had now been largely solved.
Not only had the Japanese government provided the dredger - it had also given EMODRAGA staff a course in Japan on maintaining and managing the vessel in March and April.
"The Japanese government is proud and confident that it is contributing to improving the operations of the port, by reducing both the waiting time and the risk of accidents in the channel", said the ambassador.
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Copyright © 2007 Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). |
Source: AllAfrica.com, 9 July 2007