The government of Mozambique has given its first public response to Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander's plans to build a luxury holiday home on the Machangulo peninsula in a poor area of the country.

Tourism Minister Sumbana Júnior says the prince's villa and surrounding luxury resort will be a good way of combatting local poverty. As well as holiday facilities, the construction plans include a school and hospital for local people.

The prince's Machangulo plans have faced a barrage of criticism back home in the Netherlands. Some MPs have called for the prince and his wife, Princess Máxima, to back out of the project.

Mr Júnior argues that to brand such a project as immoral because it is being built in a poor area does not help combat poverty. He says that, in the end, this sort of thinking actually denies people from remote areas access to modern facilities and technology.

photo: Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Máxima (ANP)