Lubango - Six metal material houses, known as scrap yards, were closed down at the weekend in the municipality of Lubango, central Huíla province, for operating illegally, lack of working conditions, exploitation of minors and some because vandalised public materials were found.
The multi-sectoral commission that inspected the houses is made up of agents from the National Police, the Migration and Foreigners Service, technicians from the Lubango administration and the Huíla Provincial Office for Integrated Economic Development.
Speaking to ANGOP on Tuesday, the director of the Huíla Provincial Office for Integrated Economic Development, Domingos Kalumana, said that in these places, the workers don't have contracts and the salaries are precarious, below the national minimum.
He also said that monetary transactions at the sites are not made by bank deposits, among other irregularities that make the activity informal, from a legal point of view, in terms of licensing and other mandatory issues.
He said that these scrap and waste stores had been closed down within seven days to remove all the material from the premises because they were unsuitable for business.
In one of the scrap yards, a Portuguese national was arrested in possession of railway tracks, high-voltage electric cables, traffic signs, street lighting spotlights and their derivatives.
"The activity is not adding value, but promoting the vandalisation of public property, so there is a need to rethink its modus operandis, and in the meantime it is not justified," he said.
Among the places with the highest concentration of ferrous materials, the director highlighted the neighbourhoods of Comandante Valódia (zone 10), Tchioco (zones 08 and 05) Ferrovia (zone 04), A Luta Continua (zone F), Mitcha (zones 05 and 11), all owned by foreign nationals from Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Somalia and Sudan.
He added that the commission is updating other places where this material is concentrated in the Nambambi, 14 de Abril and Lalula neighbourhoods, and so the inspection work will continue in order to shut down this illegal activity.
According to the source, the places in question practise the activity without a commercial licence and are dedicated to buying all kinds of iron through individuals.
The Office has control of 14 agents and scrap metal transporters in Lubango, located in the neighbourhoods of Nambambi, Bula Matady, Mitcha, Dack-Doy, Mutundo, Tchioco and Arimba Commune. EM/MS/DAN/DOJ
