Huila: Since December 2025, at least 49 scrap yards have been closed out of the 70 identified by the National Police in the province of Huila. On Tuesday, the Angolan government prohibited this type of activity through an Executive Decree from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce in order to repress vandalism of public infrastructure.
According to Angola Press News Agency, the document states that the practice of weighing iron and other metals is now illegal throughout Angolan territory in order to reduce frequent acts of vandalism to electrical, water, transportation, communication, and sanitation infrastructure, as well as other public services in the country. The decree establishes the prohibition of all licenses for weighing ferrous and non-ferrous metals and defines inspection measures to prevent illicit practices and protect public assets.
At the 1st Ordinary Meeting of the Huila government, provincial police commander Commissioner Divaldo Martins emphasized that an integrated commission is addressing all related problems, including the Police and the Foreign Migration Service. Martins added that legal establishments will be monitored administratively by municipal, communal, and neighborhood administrations but will also be subject to police surveillance until all materials are disposed of to ensure that they do not resume the activity.
He emphasized that legal establishments that reopen will be committing the crime of disobedience and will be punished according to the law. Meanwhile, illegal establishments will be subject to the crimes of receiving stolen goods and criminal association. The police chief stressed that the crime foreseen for establishments that are not formally established is criminal association since they operate as a network with those who order, steal or rob, and buy and transport.
According to the commissioner, these establishments serve as breeding grounds for crime and involve children who are directly enticed to seek these materials. In addition to addressing the vandalism of public property and the closure of metal weighing premises, the 1st Ordinary Meeting of the Hula Government addressed child social protection mechanisms, the public security situation in the province, and the analysis of the education and health sectors, as well as the implementation of the General State Budget (OGE) for the current year.