Mozambique: - Sugar Company Loses Over 50 Million Dollars Due to Flooding

Maputo — The Maragra Sugar Company, in the southern Mozambican district of Manhiça, has lost 3.6 billion meticais (56 million dollars, at the current exchange rate) as a result of damage to equipment and loss of sugar cane due to flooding on the Incomati river last February.

According to data unveiled by the company's Director-General, Filipe Raposo, cited by the Maputo daily "Notícias', 470,000 tonnes of cane were lost in the sugar cane production fields, representing a loss of 1.6 billion meticais.

"The losses have seriously affected the sustainability of the company, which led to the possibility of reducing the labour force and/or interrupting activities last April', said Raposo. "However, although the work was not interrupted, the company was forced to reduce the number of workers from the 500 who were linked to the sugar company to the approximately 140 that currently exist'.

Assessments made, Raposo added, show that it would take at least one to two years for the company to get back on its feet, and it would require new investment.

He added that the company "lost 95% of its sugar cane and the damages from this alone are estimated at around 30 million US dollars.'

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