Don’t rejoice over Zambian Airways’ troubles, Ililonga advises govt

Don’t rejoice over Zambian Airways’ troubles, Ililonga advises govt
Written by Zumani Katasefa in Kitwe and Ernest Chanda in Lusaka

ZAMBIA Consumers Association (ZACA) executive secretary Muyunda Ililonga has advised the government not to rejoice over the troubles of Zambian Airways.
And the Airways and Allied Workers Union of Zambia (AAWUZ) has dismissed media reports that management at Zambian Airways had not been available to discuss problems with the union.

In an interview yesterday, Ililonga said the suspension of operations by Zambian Airways signaled a lot of problems for the nation.

"Government does not see that it is obliged to protect job losses in the country. Government talks about caring for the poor people but in reality it does not care, it does not do things to their logical conclusion. The trouble of Zambian Airways should not bring joy," Ililonga said. "From the consumers' point of view, it's a sad development. We have lost a company that had in a way put the image of the country across the borders. It worked to fill the gap left by government. It makes a very sad development."

He said Zambian Airways would not have been troubled if the government was committed to ensuring that the cost of doing business in the country was affordable.

Ililonga said it was unfortunate that the government had not shown sustainable efforts aimed at reducing the cost of doing business thereby reducing the cost of living in the country.

"Recently, government boasted that they were going to reduce bus fares, but bus fares are not being reduced. People travelling from Lusaka to Kitwe are still paying K65,000 despite the pump price of fuel being reduced," he said. "This government always wants to make pronouncements which are not practical on the ground."

Ililonga urged the government to completely remove excise duty on the price of fuel in this year's national budget

And AAWUZ union president Steve Selenge said his team had been in constant talks with management at Zambian Airways.

"As a union we have been fully aware of problems the airline has been passing through and we have been talking to management to chart the way forward. It is not true that we have not known anything from the beginning, but we had all the information about the problems the airline was going through," Selenge said. "And earlier on we did not want to comment about the suspension of operations at the airline, but for now we can say that we are saddened by the move. As a union we are appealing to government to come in and find ways of helping employees. Again I must say that it is not true that we do not know anything about issues surrounding Zambian Airways."

Selenge said the union was still discussing the matter with the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) to chart the way forward.

Zambian Airways last weekend announced the suspension of operations, citing high operation costs due to the high fuel costs.

On Tuesday, the Times of Zambia quoted Selenge as having said AAWUZ had difficulty to get full information about the suspension of operations at Zambian Airways because management officials had since Saturday not been available to discuss the way forward with the union.