Malhazine - Tragedy to Recovery
My time in Mozambique was starting to take its toll on me physically and mentally. It was only a few short months since we had lost our colleague Reuben on the Northern Border. We were a tough bunch, but I must admit things were really beginning to build up. Pressures of work, long hours, and months away from loved ones and friends. It was all part of the job. It was what I had knowingly signed up for.
I was sat eating a steak at 556 on the Avenida da. Marginal in Pemba, planning on a couple of days sorting out a logistics run followed by a weekend on the beach. When on the afternoon of the 22nd of March 2007 my phone rang. "Put on the TV". The Images coming through of fireballs from explosions looked like air strikes raining down on the capital, Maputo. It was bedlam, chaotic and confusing. I got my orders. Bring in the mobile teams, get them down to Maputo ASAP. It was going to be a long night. After the dust settled, this is what I wrote home.
Dear All,
I wonder what the tolerance level must be before a nation decides that enough is enough. Mozambique has been ruled by the same political party since Independence thirty years ago. The same party fought and won a bitter civil war that destroyed the lives of millions and reduced the nation to poverty.
Natural disasters abound here, flooding, droughts, cyclones and so on and so forth. Yet the response is always piecemeal, the effort token. Still the status quo remains, the rural population getting the rough end of the shitty stick whilst watching the politicians and apparatchiks getting fatter.
So, when on the afternoon of the 22nd of March 2007 when an ammunition store (paiol) in the capital, Maputo exploded would this herald a change? This man-made disaster killed over 100 people, severely injured 400, destroyed homes and businesses, and enraged a population. There was confusion, fear and panic as the districts surrounding the paiol were showered in ordnance.
Rockets rained down in their hundreds, mortar rounds struck, and cannon rounds filled the afternoon air. For several hours Maputo became a war zone. People were killed in their houses as BM24 and BM21 rockets struck through the thin concrete walls. Thousands fled from the area, yet unsure of where to run to. The government froze, the Armed forces failed to react. Hospitals were inundated with injured civilians. National Television showed images of dead children, yet there was no immediate response.
Where the accident took place is in the poorer districts of the city, away from the politicians, the internationals, and the tourists. However, it is not a shanty town. The government claims that the houses were built too close to the paiol. That it is transient accommodation; this is however far from the truth. Many of the houses were government built, hospitals, schools, local government buildings are all in the area. This is no temporary settlement. The blame does not lie with the population surrounding the paiol but at the feet of the politicians and Generals. They are the ones to blame; they are the people who through incompetence and ineptitude caused the deaths of over 100 countrymen and women. Yet will they lose their jobs, their salary, their foreign excursions, their families? The answer is no. For once again the connection between corruption and politicians is too intricately laced. The Minister of Defense is the brother-in-law of the President. He will not lose his position; a scapegoat must be found. It will not be the top General. For he was once, head of Military Intelligence and who knows what information he holds on the members of the ruling elite. It will be the fault of a Colonel or maybe a Lt. Colonel, someone who will have been negligent.
The excuses are piling in and being analyzed, the daily temperature was too high, there was looting of ammunition, a fire ignited the paiol. Whatever the cause of the accident, there remains the problem that a cover up will exist. Whatever the cause of the accident, there remains the problem of 16 other ammunition stores in the same state. All of these can potentially cause more deaths and destruction.
During this episode we responded with the provision of eleven explosive ordnance disposal teams. The teams had driven the length of Mozambique to answer the military’s call for assistance. This was no easy task. Operational plans were drawn up, logistical chains established, local contacts met. We were ready to help. Yet we were misled by the military, they reneged upon the agreements, stalled at every opportunity, and soon became embarrassed by our presence. It soon became apparent that they were under political pressure to resolve the problem clearing thousands of explosive items without international help.
They conducted their clearance at an alarming speed, handling fused and unfused items collecting them into the back of pick-up trucks and Lorries. How there were no further deaths or injuries we will never know. They played a risky hand and fortunately for them it was done without incident. It was however frightening to see 57mm items thrown from an unplanned explosion being handled and bounced along through crowded marketplaces.
For me personally the whole episode has left a bitter taste. Working weeks without sleeping and eating properly has taken its toll. Exhaustion has built up to a level that even after a few days off I still feel. On top of this, is the way that as an organization we were messed around. We have assessed the situation within the district neighborhoods and there still remains a large number of ordnances buried in the streets and backyards. All of the effort that we applied was for no purpose.
So, fuck it why should we clean up their mess? The landmines and UXO can remain; the politicians who were so keen to be seen on television can do the hard sweaty work. They can be dragged through the courts whenever an unscrupulous employee feels he needs extra money. They can fend off the underpaid and corrupt traffic police, the customs officials and all the rest of the detritus that scrapes its living from the good will of others.
Fuck it I am tired of trying to maintain the moral high ground, of trying to do the right thing to make the lives of others better, why is that I feel a responsibility to care when the majority does not?
This is all coming at a time when I have had little sleep, food and an awful lot of work. So please take it with a pinch of salt and understand the frustrations of working in these environments.
On a lighter note, during this episode I have had the opportunity to get to know a great girl so much better. She is selfless to the point of meeting me for dinner at midnight, always ready with a smile and a conversation to steal me away from the rants and annoyances that the day has brought. Helps me track down fifty egg sandwiches at one thirty in the morning, Patience of a saint does not go far enough to describe you.
As always, all my love"
My frustration with a lot of things allowed emotions to come through in that letter. As the years pass, there is a time for rebuilding both for me and for Mozambique. It has been announced that the area surrounding Malhazine will be transformed into a nature reserve. I hope so.