Total has postponed the restart of works at the Mozambique LNG project and is scrambling to evacuate staff from the area, after deadly attacks on a nearby coastal town of Palma. Attacks on the town, which serves as the hub for the project, began on the day that Total announced it would gradually restart work, citing government efforts to improve security in the area.
Total had announced a gradual resumption of works after the government of Mozambique initiated additional security measures on the Afungi Peninsula, in the northern province of Cabo Delgado.
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Special security zone
According to a press release from the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy, the government had declared the area of the Mozambique LNG Project as a special security zone. “A road map has been drawn up with measures and actions seeking to restore and strengthen security. These measures include increasing the size of the contingent of the Mozambican defence and security forces stationed at Afungi. They will allow the gradual return of the workers who had been evacuated, and the resumption of construction activities,” read the statement.
The statement further added that, control over the Afungi special security area continues to be guaranteed exclusively by the public security forces under the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the government and Total. The special security area covers the zone within a 25km perimeter around the LNG project.
Work on the multi-billion project was interrupted at the end of December 2020, due to security threats in the immediate vicinity. Since then the government and Total have been working to draw up a plan of action to strengthen security around the site and the neighbouring villages.
