Maputo, Mozambique — The Mozambican government is still seeking funds to use for the third stage of the rehabilitation of the Maputo fishing port, Mozambican Prime Minister Pascoal Mocumbi has said.

He was speaking during a ceremony at which two stages of the rehabilitation work at the port were formally delivered Wednesday.

The work that has now been completed began in August 1999, and cost 13 million US dollars, mostly granted by the Japanese government.

Among the recently rehabilitated infrastructures are the quay which can now accommodate 60 rather than 20 boats a day, an ice factory that can produce 20 tonnes a day rather than the previous 14 tonnes, and a fish conservation sector which has gained four new compartments with a capacity for storing 100 tonnes of fish each at temperatures of minus 20 degrees celsius.

Mocumbi said that all this equipment puts Maputo port in line with the demands of the international markets in terms of the conservation of fisheries produce.

Mocumbi acknowledged that this rehabilitation represents an important step ahead for the advantage of the port users and for the sustainability of the port itself.

However, he said "despite this great advance, I cannot but stress the need for a third stage in the rehabilitation work".

This would includes more cold storage facilities and the rehabilitation of the industrial fisheries terminal, he said.

Japanese Ambassador, Yoshiro Nose, stressed the huge potential that Mozambique possesses in terms of fishing resources, and said that it was to help the country take advantage of this that his government committed itself to funding the rehabilitation of the fishing port.