Aug 04, 2008. /Lesprom.com/. Mozambican Labour Minister Helena Taipo has ordered the closure of the largest timber company in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, Miti, according to a report in the Beira daily paper "Diario de Mocambique". When she visited a Miti sawmill in the coastal district of Mocimboa da Praia, during her working visit to Cabo Delgado, the workers complained of poor relations with the management, and of gross illegalities in the payment of wages. They said they had no written work contracts, and that Miti was only paying them 300 meticais (about $12.5) a week - which is substantially less than the minimum industrial wage of 1,975 meticais a month ($82.3). The company had also failed to provide the workers with boots, gloves or any other protective clothing. The premises were lacking in hygiene, and Taipo's delegation found the company was employing some foreign staff "in a dubious contractual situation". There was no sign of the company's owner, Faruk Jamal. Taipo ordered a complete shutdown of the company "until the owner speaks to us to explain why so many of the country's laws are being broken here". The Cabo Delgado chief provincial labour inspector, Bacar Munamina, said that the police will be ordered to enforce the closure. The company will not be allowed to operate "until orders to the contrary", he said.