The ManicaPost
Mozambique’S National Inspectorate of Economic Activities (INAE) on Monday announced that it has seized five tonnes of unlabelled sugar that was being sold in informal shops and markets.
“We found unlabelled sugar in Maputo city and in Moamba district (about 60 kilometres northwest of Maputo)”, INAE spokesperson Virginia Muianga told a Monday press conference.
The sugar has so been found in five establishments, one in Moamba, and four in Maputo. Investigations are under way to see whether this sugar is on sale anywhere else.
Laboratory tests, Muianga added, have shown that two tonnes of the sugar are unfit for human consumptions. Tests are continuing on the other three tonnes.
This INAE investigation arose from an anonymous tip-off that sugar was being sold without any labeling. Attempting to discover where the sugar came from, INAE has visited the nearest sugar company, at the town of Xinavane, and the National Directorate of Sugar, which supervises all sugar production in Mozambique.
Since sugar for the retail market would not have left a reputable company without any labelling, it must be suspected that the sugar was stolen, or possibly smuggled in from a neighbouring country.
Muianga also announced that INAE has begun visiting swimming pools and gymnasiums to check whether they are complying with the relevant legal norms.
Across the country, 26 swimming pools and 47 gyms were visited over the past fortnight, she said, and INAE found that some of these establishments were not authorised.
“In the gyms we found trainers who have received no training themselves, while from the pools we collected water samples that will undergo laboratory analysis to ensure that the water is fit for swimming”.
At this stage, no fines were issued, and the owners of the pools and gyms were simply informed that they must obey the legal norms.
Eight of the 466 establishments visited were fined a total of 673 935 meticais. — AIM
