- Total has opted to reduce its 3000 strong workforce in the Afungi Peninsula, Palma district, in the northern province of Cabo Delgado.
- The company is building gas liquefication plants as part its USD 23 billion LNG project.
- The area has come under recent attacks by rebel forces.
A Total spokesperson told AIM on the weekend that this is “in response to the prevailing situation, including the challenges under way associated with Covid-19 and the security situation in the north of Cabo Delgado”.
“The operational environment remains under continual assessment”, the spokesperson added, “and Total maintains permanent communication with the Mozambican authorities about the matter”.
On 1st January attacks were reported on the resettlement village of Quitunda which is in the Total area but outside the fence, and on the Riot Police (UIR) camp on the main road to the Afungi development, just at the gates of the project. Insurgents have also left leaflets saying Palma will be attacked on Tuesday 5 January
Total’s Mega Gas Project in Mozambique Now Under Serious Threat
Total’s plan is to build two gas liquefaction trains on the Afungi Peninsula with the capacity to produce 13.12 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) a year
The armed violence in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, is causing a humanitarian crisis with around 2,000 deaths and 560,000 displaced people with no housing or food, concentrated mainly in the provincial capital, Pemba.
The province has been under insurgent attack for three years and some of the incursions have been claimed by the ‘jihadist’ Islamic state group since 2019. Read more
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
