Mozambique: Total Stops Work At Afungi

"Total has suspended all construction work at its LNG project on the Afungi peninsula in Cabo Delgado, following a spate of violent incidents close to the LNG site," reports Zitamar. (4 Jan) A new outbreak of Covid-19 in the workforce also contributed to the halt. (Carta de Mocambique 4 Jan) It appears the halt is long term. Its official statement says, "in view of the evolving security situation in Cabo Delgado province and Palma district, Total … has decided to reduce the staff present at the project site in Afungi" and it is dismissing workers. (Carta de Mocambique 5 Jan; Lusa 4 Jan) About 500 workers have been evacuated from Afungi so far. (MediaFax 4 Jan)

There was fighting between the defence forces (FDS) and insurgents in the village of Quitunda, where Total is relocating communities from other parts of its land concession. Bloomberg (3 Jan) says "the fighting in Quitunda is the closest yet to Total's construction camp," and is less than 1 km from the airstrip. The fighting in Quitunda is the first within the concession (DUAT) area, but outside the fence around the airstrip, port, and industrial area. Bloomberg says the skirmish occurred on Friday evening (1 Jan) and fighting continued until Saturday, when government forces expelled the insurgents. Our map of recent fighting near Afungi is on http://bit.ly/Moz-Afungi-Jan21

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