Francisco Furtado, who was speaking during a visit to the province of Zaire, said that there are foreigners selling fuel, contrary to what is established by law.
“A foreigner cannot sell fuel, cannot have gas stations in the country. We have to immediately change this process,” he said.
The government official also called on defense and security bodies to improve fuel inspection mechanisms, which are assigned to military and police units, because there are several complaints “about the diversion of fuel from military and police units”.
According to Francisco Furtado, one of the ongoing measures to combat the situation is the confiscation of the means used to smuggle fuel and also the appropriation of the spaces used for its storage.
“We found in Luanda and other provinces, but in Luanda most prominently, in the municipalities of Cacuaco and Viana, in Panguila, in the province of Bengo, large spaces transformed into fuel warehouses, with tanks, underground reservoirs, where the fuel is unloaded. through cisterns and from there smugglers load it,” he said.
Francisco Furtado said that “the situation is so serious”, stressing that the quantities seized from January until now exceed 9.3 million liters of various fuels, lamenting the losses for the State, which does not collect “a single kwanza of tax” of what is invested in importing fuels into the country.
“The main causes of fuel smuggling are subsidized prices that attract demand from neighboring countries and become an appetite for smugglers,” he said.
According to Francisco Furtado, in the province of Zaire “very serious measures have already been taken regarding those responsible for various sectors involved in the practice and facilitation of fuel smuggling”, also in the provinces of Moxico and Cuando Cubango, and it is necessary to “continue improve inspection and control work to put an end to these practices that harm the State and the economy.”
Among the measures being taken, the improvement of the inspection system and electronic control from the borders stands out, work that began on the southern border, but which the President of the Republic considers that the north should be a priority at this time.
The Minister of State and head of the Military House of the President of the Republic also expressed concern about illegal immigration and border landmarks. Regarding border landmarks, Francisco Furtado said that work is being carried out at the level of the mixed border commissions of Angola/Namibia, Angola/Zambia and Angola/Democratic Republic of Congo.
Regarding illegal immigration, the Government found with the general population and housing census that in the provinces of Cabinda, Zaire, Lunda Norte, Moxico and Cuando Cubango, population density increased between 70 and 112 percent in relation to the 2014 census.
This situation, according to Francisco Furtado, is an indication that there must be facilitation on the part of national citizens and probable involvement of traditional authorities, “who issue declarations of birth and residence to foreign citizens”.
