Mota-Engil bemused at Monkey Bay incident
Portugues construction firm Mota-Engil says it is shocked and dismayed with the incident that happened in Monkey Bay, Mangochi where one person has died and several others were injured in protest against the proposed infrastructural developments the firm wants to undertake in the area.
The firm, in partnership with Malawi Government, under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model, plans to construct a world class tourist attraction, comprising a five-star hotel and an 18-hole golf course, a feat that would boost the country’s tourism potential.
Some people in Monkey Bay on Tuesday stormed a hall where Traditional Authority (T/A) Nankumba was holding an area development committee (ADC) meeting to brief his subjects on a number of development projects to take place in the area.
But in a statement made available to Business News yesterday, Mota-Engil said: “We can confidently state here that no Mota-Engil official nor any staff was aware of or, let alone present during the meeting or meetings we now learnt were called by traditional chiefs to brief their people on the impending project.”
The statement said apart from reading through online media, Mota-Engil has not been officially briefed by their partners in investment, the Malawi Government, through relevant ministries on what exactly happened.
“We are shocked at the manner how the name of our company is being meddled into this fracas in Monkey Bay when the residents of the said areas know whom to contact if they had any discontentment,” said the statement, adding that the people of Malawi will be updated on their further position as soon as they get proper briefing from Malawian authorities.
Monkey Bay is one of the country’s tourism attraction sites and experts have argued the place needs magnificent tourists’ attraction infrastructure to spur the country’s tourism potential.
