Administrative tribunal rejects chinese appeal
The Administrative Tribunal in the central Mozambican province of Sofala has rejected an appeal by a Chinese logging company, which was attempting to recover thousands of cubic metres of wood logged illegally.
Whistle blowers denounced the company, Kamal Lau Ming, to the authorities last September. Teams from the National Environmental Control Agency went to the yards of the company (in Chibabava and Caia districts) to assess the legality of the wood stored there, and found that Kamal Lau Ming was not licensed to buy and sell timber, except for “exotic species”. For this work, the company should be operating, not in Chibabava or Caia, but in the Ceramica neighbourhood of the provincial capital, Beira.
According to a report by the independent television station STV, the inspectors found about 6,000 cubic metres of illegally logged timber in the yards. Some of the logs were clearly from young trees, since their diameter was less than the recommended 30 centimetres.
The inspectors ordered that the illegal timber be sold at auction to the highest bidder. Kamal Lau Ming appealed against this decision to the Administrative Tribunal.
It took the Tribunal seven months to rule on the case, but in a ruling dated 19 July, it declared that the arguments of the Chinese company were not convincing, and so the timber must be sold in public auction. The company must also pay legal costs of 50,000 meticais (about 780 US dollars, at the current exchange rate).
(AIM)
