Luanda, Dec. 27, 2024 (Lusa) - The Angolan Cabinet on Friday considered a draft decree classifying the island of Mussulo, in Luanda province, as a place of tourist interest, in order to make better use of its tourist potential.
According to the final communiqué from the meeting chaired by the Angolan president, João Lourenço, the aim is to guarantee the tourist development of the Mussulo peninsula "in a harmonious and integrated way, preserving its characteristics in the best possible way and mitigating the negative effects of the impact resulting from the inevitable, but desirable, tourist growth that is taking place there".
Speaking to the press, the Angolan minister for tourism, Márcio Daniel, said that this is the first step in a positive transformation that the executive is going to carry out on the island of Mussulo, in order to make the most of its tourist potential.
According to the minister, a series of investments are being made in infrastructure, increasing the demand for more concessions in that area.
The Angolan minister emphasised the need to organise Mussulo's growth by drawing up a Territorial Planning Plan, which will have a special vocation for the tourism sector.
Márcio Daniel emphasised that the island of Mussulo was recently elevated to the category of municipality, with a change in the political-administrative division, clarifying that the Ministry of Tourism is only responsible for drawing up the Tourism Management Plan, with the municipal administration in charge of implementing a number of planned operations.
"This is the first step, which is the approval of the diagnosis, the next steps will be to draw up the Tourism Management Plan, present it and discuss it in public consultation, then validate it in the Interministerial Commission for Spatial Planning, which is coordinated by the Ministry of Public Prosecutor, Urbanism and Housing, so that the last step is to return to the Cabinet and have it approved," he emphasised.
The government expects this instrument to be completed during the first half of 2025 and until then the Luanda provincial government has already temporarily suspended all operations to grant land rights, building licences and other urban planning operations until the plan is approved.
"This decision, which has already been taken by the Luanda provincial government and is already being implemented, does not apply to cases that were already underway at the time of the suspension measure. Those that were already underway will continue their normal course until they are completed; it is new applications that will be suspended until the Tourism Planning Plan is approved," he emphasised.
During the meeting, the Cabinet also analysed the Draft Presidential Decree approving the Natural Gas Master Plan, a document that defines the guidelines for the sustainable development of natural gas resources and their use in the domestic market, contributing to the energy transition, the diversification of the domestic economy, maximising the benefits for Angolan society and ensuring a return on investment.
The implementation of the Natural Gas Master Plan, combined with the intensification of Angola LNG's production and its maximum capacity on an ongoing basis, will, according to the Angolan government, allow for affordable energy costs, create solid foundations for industrialisation, with the participation of the country's financial system, reducing annual expenditure on imports of products such as chemical fertilisers, plastics and rubber.
NME/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
