Mozambique says issue of Malawi Nsanje Inland Port a closed affair

An influential newspaper in Mozambique has described as a closed affair the issue of Nsanje Inland Port.

The Portuguese language Noticias newspaper says Maputo is not in talks with Lilongwe and has nothing to talk to Malawi about the port in Nsanje.

This comes barely a week after president Peter Mutharika said in Nsanje that he was in talks with the Mozambican authorities, adding that as soon as he gets permit, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will immediately resume building the infrastructure.

But the head of the department of Bilateral Cooperation at the ministry of Transport and Communications, Horacio Parquinio told the newspaper that recent in-depth environmental feasibility studies have been carried out which did not recommend the navigability of the Zambezi river.

At a recent meeting on the Nacala Corridor project, they wanted to bring the issue of the port of Nsanje to the table and we, the Mozambican delegation, made it clear that this was no longer a matter for discussion and the issue was taken off the agenda,” Parquinio was quoted as saying.

This shatters the dream colour of former president Bingu wa Mutharika who envisioned a world class port in Nsanje with a world class airport and city.