12 December 2007
Maputo — Victims of the explosions in the military arsenal in the Maputo suburb of Malhazine on 22 March will start receiving their pensions and invalidity benefits "within days", the spokesman for the Mozambican government, Deputy Education Minister Luis Covane, told reporters on Tuesday.
The disaster, in which the blazing arsenal threw out rockets, mortars and artillery shells across much of Maputo and the neighbouring city of Matola, resulted in the deaths of 107 people. 515 people were injured, including many who lost limbs.
Immediately after the explosions the government promised compensation, and a Reconstruction Support Office has been repairing, or entirely rebuilding, the many houses damaged by the projectiles. But the promised invalidity benefits have not materialized until now.
Speaking to reporters after a Cabinet meeting, Covane said the government has approved a decree establishing the widows' pensions, and invalidity benefits to be paid to victims of the explosions.
Covane pledged that some of the benefits would be paid immediately through the Reconstruction Support Office. However, attributing widows' or survivors' pensions would involve the beneficiaries submitting documentation to the Ministry of Finance. Covane said this would not involve unnecessary red tape, since the government already has the names of all the dead and injured from the disaster.
The amount paid in invalidity pensions depends on how severely disabled the victims are. The starting point is the national minimum industrial wage, which currently stands at 1,645 meticais (about 68 US dollars) a month. The benefits are calculated in multiples of this figure.
All benefits will be backdated to 22 March.
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