Inaugurated last Tuesday by the Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Carmen do Sacramento Neto, the salt mines occupy an area of ​​280 hectares, of which only 120 are being used, with an estimated monthly average production of 4,200 tons of salt .

Speaking to the press, Sebastião Custódio stated that the project is using clay, in the conventional phase and then tarpaulins in the retention basins.

“The use of tarpaulins allows the production process to go faster, but it is more complicated because it requires a lot of maintenance due to the replacement of equipment”, he explained.

The person responsible explained that the project began to be implemented two years ago and, along the way, it has encountered many difficulties.

For him, the objective is to guarantee the increase in national salt production and the surplus to be transported, mainly, to the Democratic Republic of Congo, through the Lobito Corridor.

“We also want to build a salt refining factory to add value to what we produce, to be able to export at higher costs and guarantee the sustainability of the company”, he informed.

In terms of investments, he informed that the company already has a technical-professional training room, as well as another literacy room to increase the level of technical knowledge of workers.

Regarding competition, he said he did not feel that much because he considered the market to be stable, taking into account the number of companies in the sector.

The Tchicamby salt mines currently have 320 direct workers and 125 on a collaborative basis, but the objective, according to Sebastião Custódio, is to reach 1,000 jobs by the end of the year.

During the guided visit, the minister gave some advice such as the need to build a laboratory for quality control, as well as the retention of technicians to continue production for the next generations.

The project benefited from financing from the Angolan Development Bank in the order of two billion kwanzas.

Meanwhile, the company started with 50 percent of this value, according to the project promoter, and its expansion is planned gradually. TC/CRB