The Japanese government handed over, on Thursday, six patrol and rescue boats to the Interior Ministry in order to strengthen the response of the Mozambican Defence and Security Forces (FDS) in the fight against Islamist terrorists in the northern province of Cabo Delgado.
The equipment, which includes various communications instruments for the Coastal, Lake and River Police, is valued at 1.2 million dollars, and is part of the Japanese support against the terrorism that has been plaguing some districts of Cabo Delgado since 2017.
According to the Minister of the Interior, Pascoal Ronda, who received the equipment in Cabo Delgado, it includes six medium-sized lifeboats, six lifeboat trailers, fifty-five portable VHF marine radios, four marine radios for VHF navigation stations and a marine VHF radio base unit for land stations.
“Conditions have been created for rescuing people, and for preventing and combating the various forms of crime that occur in the coastal, maritime, lake and river areas of Cabo Delgado”, said Ronda. “We are receiving this donation in the knowledge that globalization and the increasing openness of borders have increased the mobility of people and goods, which boosts the number of illegal activities”.
The Minister said that the fight against various crimes “such as terrorism, trafficking in goods, drugs and human beings, as well as trafficking in arms, ammunition and money laundering” require more sophisticated equipment, as well as pro-active measures.
“In view of the challenges imposed on us by organized and transnational crime, we are committed to making proper use of this equipment”, he said.
AIM
