AIR CONDITIONING AT AIRPORT BREAKS DOWN

The air conditioning in the departure lounge at the domestic terminal of Maputo airport has broken down, reports Thursday’s issue of the independent newssheet “Mediafax”.The situation is extremely uncomfortable for passengers, since January and February are the hottest months of the year, with Maputo temperatures sometimes reaching 40 degrees centigrade. Angry passengers who contacted “Mediafax” described conditions inside the terminal as “unbearable”.The airport director, Acacio Tuendue, confirmed the breakdown, which happened about three weeks ago, and blamed the electricity company, EDM.“We do indeed have a breakdown”, he said. “Because of the oscillations in the electrical current, one of the components in the refrigeration system was damaged”.Maputo has been suffering from power cuts and oscillations in power supply since a lightning strike knocked out a transformer at the Matola sub-station on 30 September. That sub-station is key to electricity distribution for all of southern Mozambique. Attempts to repair the damage have so far failed, and EDM has warned that power cuts could continue for up to a year.Tuendue told “Mediafax” that replacement parts for the damaged air conditioning system are not available, either in Mozambique or in South Africa. Nonetheless, he was optimistic that work on repairing the system would be completed within a week. Until the repairs are complete, he could only advise passengers to be patient.The airport was completely rebuilt recently by the Chinese company, the Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Corporation (AFECC). The work, completed in 2012, was financed with loans of 75 million dollars from China, 50 million dollars in soft loans, and the rest on commercial terms.