Empresa Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM), in Nampula province, reports losses of around ten million meticais due to theft and vandalism of its infrastructure from January this year.
Isalde Guerreiro, deputy director of EDM in the Nampula office, announced on Tuesday, following the presentation to journalists by the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) of an individual accused of selling electrical cables in the informal market.
"We have a loss of over ten million meticais, since the beginning of this year," Guerreiro said.
According to the source, EDM has been experiencing theft and vandalization of electrical material in the neighborhoods of Namicopo, Carrupeia and Murrapaniua. "They steal underground and overhead cables from us, vandalize the transformers and remove the oil used in them," he confirmed.
For its part, SERNIC, through its spokesperson in Nampula, Enina Tsinine, said that the cases of theft of EDM materials are recurrent, with the involvement of its workers.
"It is a case that we have been following for months and it is crime committed repeatedly although with different defendants and always in connection with EDM workers, some of whom, the company says, are seasonal. We call on the company to be more cautious about the workers who are assigned the responsibility of garnishing the materials in the warehouses," he said.
The individual indicted for selling stolen material admitted to working seasonally at the power plant in Nampula City and that he allegedly received from senior employees of the company last month unspecified quantities of underground cables for sale.
"It was last month that they took the cables from the warehouse, at the power plant, and put them in a company car and went to drop me off at a place where I just waited for the buyer. One meter cost 500 meticais. So I've been here since Thursday," he explained.
However, Isalde Guerreio denies the accusations, but acknowledged that there were seasonal employees who engaged in theft. "We deny those claims, we don't confirm them. Eventually there are seasonal employees who get involved in thefts of material. We are working with the Police and we have results, as is the case of this individual with 40 meters of copper and aluminum cable worth 150 thousand meticais", he noted.
Guerreiro said that EDM has carried out actions in the communities for its clients and consumers to be vigilant, reporting cases of theft and vandalism of equipment. Meanwhile, the SERNIC spokeswoman also presented the manager of a warehouse selling food products in the city of Nampula, accused of writing bad checks for payment of goods to at least seven intermediaries, amounting to approximately two million meticais.