The justice authorities are investigating the whereabouts of the managers of the Cimento Nacional company, in Maputo province, for having abandoned the factory and left the country without explanation, leaving about 300 workers unemployedwas announced today.

The chief prosecutor of Maputo province, Evelina Gomane, told Radio Mozambique that the justice system is taking steps with the migration authorities to identify the whereabouts of the company's managers in order to find out the reasons that led them to close the factory and leave the country.

"We have to make this inquiry, working with the migration authorities to understand at what point these managers may have absented themselves from the company," Gomane said.

The court is also working with the Labor Inspectorate for an assessment of the implications of the factory's abandonment on the rights of the company's approximately 300 workers and their protection, including the payment of compensation, he added.

Evelina Gomane advanced that possible criminal contours of the whole situation around the closing of the company Cimento Nacional and its exit from the country are also being investigated.

On Thursday, the secretary of state in Maputo province, Vitória Diogo, told Rádio Moçambique that the authorities have sent information to the Public Ministry to determine the legal implications of the situation caused by the abandonment of the factory.

The Mozambican cement market has suffered a profound blow with a sharp reduction in the consumer price, with the recent start-up of the Dugongo plant, a Chinese-owned company.

Dugongo introduced a price list at half of what was practiced in the industry.

The cement companies accuse the Chinese factory of unfair competition and have already asked the government to intervene, warning of the risk of closure and unemployment.