The population of the Mudada neighborhood, in the district of Matutuíne, in the southern province of Maputo, submitted a petition to the Assembly of the Republic (AR) on Thursday (18) against the Dugongo cement factory for allegedly not honoring its commitments to the resettled people.

Inaugurated in 2021, Dugongo, a company with majority Chinese capital, will be installed on the site of the homes of more than 120 families.

In an AIM publication, the president of the Mudada residents' committee, Justino Jasse, explained that for more than 17 years those resettled by Dugongo have not been compensated, and in the neighborhood where they are resettled [Mudada] there is a lack of basic necessities, including electricity and water.

"What's happening is that we've been paralyzed since 2007 when the Dugongo company showed up here and forbade all the residents here [Mudada] from building their own houses, and they promised us that they were going to build decent houses, hospitals, schools, an electricity grid, a water supply, and better conditions for all of us," he said, adding that these were all just promises.

Jasse confirmed that he had contacted Dugongo but "they always tried to deceive us", saying that he had even been told that the resettlement process did not include compensation.

At the time of the resettlement, 15 years ago, the factory built 121 type 3 masonry houses for around 200 families affected by the resettlement.

"There are families who didn't have houses; they took us from the place where we were and earned something and built houses with precarious materials, in an area prone to flooding; we are in the middle of streams; we reject these houses because there are already cracks in all the bedrooms and living rooms," he said.

Jasse said that people no longer need the houses because of their vulnerability. "When it rains, water gets in and it doesn't even look like it's covered in sheets," he said.

According to Jasse, the same petition was submitted to the Matutuíne district administration.