Works for Total SA’s liquefied natural gas plant in June.
Total SE asked some employees to vacate its $ 20 billion liquefied natural gas project in Mozambique, as Islamic militants are carrying out attacks closer and closer to the site.
Fighters linked to the Islamic State invaded a city less than 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the construction camp of what is Africa’s largest private investment this week, increasing the risks to the planned LNG export terminal on Mozambique’s north coast. Although the heavily guarded site has not yet been attacked, militants have threatened to do so.
Total “temporarily reduced its workforce on site in response to the prevailing environment,” said the company in an e-mailed response to questions on Friday. The situation is being reviewed continuously, he said.
Read more: Mozambican insurgents stage the attack closest to the Total LNG site
The southern African country has so far struggled to contain an insurgency in the province of Cabo Delgado that started in October 2017 and that killed about 2,500 people, while 570,000 left their homes.
Mozambique hopes that LNG projects like Total’s will transform one of the world’s poorest countries and catapult it to become a major global fuel exporter.
The coronavirus pandemic weighed heavily on the decision to cut staff, Total said.
The Mozambique LNG project, scheduled to start production in 2024, was the site of the first cases of coronavirus in the country in April, which led to the suspension of works until June. A new outbreak in the project was detected last month, reported the news site @Verdade, based in Maputo.
Total has a 26.5% stake in the project it bought for $ 3.9 billion in September 2019.
– With the assistance of Borges Nhamire