The National Sea Institute (INAMAR) has begun training its employees in techniques for preventing, controlling and combating pollution of the marine environment. The initiative is in response to the growth in maritime activities along the Mozambican coast, including maritime transport, fishing and the exploitation of natural resources.
According to Agência de Informação de Moçambique, in partnership with the Norwegian Coastal Administration, INAMAR held a national seminar in Maputo between Monday 26 and Wednesday 30 focussed on drawing up local contingency plans and notification systems for environmental accidents, with an emphasis on marine pollution.
‘The aim is to provide the provinces with the tools to respond autonomously, quickly and in line with the International Maritime Organisation’s international standards for dealing with spills,’ said Isaías Mondlane, chairman of INAMAR’s Board of Directors, during the opening of the seminar.
According to Mondlane, the National Contingency Plan (PNC) for the waters under Mozambique’s jurisdiction, which has technical and financial support from Norway, defines specific responsibilities for preparing for and responding to spills of hydrocarbons and other dangerous substances.
‘The main aim of the PNC is to protect public health and mitigate ecological and socio-economic risks, ensuring a rapid and effective response in the event of environmental incidents,’ he added.
Co-operation between INAMAR and the Norwegian Coastal Administration should strengthen the institutional capacity of INAMAR and the provincial maritime administrations. The representative of the Norwegian Coastal Administration, Kathrine Idas, emphasised that the three-year partnership aims to transfer Norwegian experience in the oil and gas sector, covering areas such as resource management, revenue management, environmental management and safety.
‘The starting point for this collaboration is the national oil spill contingency plan, already approved by the Mozambican government, and the environmental sensitivity maps developed in the context of the Western Indian Ocean Highway project, supported by the World Bank,’ explained Idas.
She concluded that, over the next three years, Norway will provide technical assistance and share its vast experience in maritime administration with INAMAR, in order to improve responses to environmental incidents along Mozambique’s coast.
