Soyo — A new seafood processing plant has been inaugurated on Saturday in the coastal town of Soyo, Angolan Zaire province, by the Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Carmen of Sacramento Neto.
The Seatag company project, budgeted at US$80 million, and co-financed by Angolan and Chinese businessmen, has the capacity to process 10,000 tons of seafood per month.
Built in an area of eight hectares, the plant will also process about 250 tons of dried fish per month, and has already provided 800 direct jobs, in a first phase, benefiting, in its majority, local youth.
Among other features, the project includes six compartments with 24 freezing tunnels, six processing tanks and two conservation chambers, with the capacity to store 5,000 tons of fish each.
The processing facility also has cleaning, packaging, drying, storage and invoicing areas, in addition to a 115 meter long and ten wide pier that allows four small, medium and large vessels to dock at the same time.
The executive director of the Seatag company, Alcatir Costa, said that of the 16 vessels built for the project, six have already been licensed, while the remaining ten are awaiting the "green light" from the competent authorities.
He said that, in the first phase, the merchandise will be sold on the national market to contribute to the efforts of the Angolan Executive aimed at diversifying the economy.
The Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Cármen do Sacramento Neto, praised the company's initiative and reiterated the Executive's institutional support for similar projects, with a view to contributing to the country's development.
In turn, the governor of Zaire, Adriano Mendes de Carvalho, said that the seafood processing plant represents an added value for the province, as, in addition to providing more fish for the local population, it generated hundreds of jobs for youth.
"I hope that the project takes subsequent steps to achieve the recommended goals and contribute to the diversification of the country's economy", he said.
He invited national and foreign businesspeople to invest more in the province of Zaire, taking advantage of the potential that the region holds in the fields of agriculture, fishing, mining, tourism, among others.
JFC/JL/DOJ
