Maravi

Cottan rules out immediate reduction in mealie-meal prices

Cottan rules out immediate reduction in mealie-meal prices
Written by Chiwoyu Sinyangwe in Lusaka and Justine Kawisha in Mazabuka
Saturday, February 28, 2009 9:21:15 AM

MILLERS Association of Zambia (MAZ) vice chairperson Peter Cottanhas said adjustments to the current mealie-meal prices are only expected to be made next month.

Cottan explained that millers were currently selling mealie-meal at a fixed price as they were getting maize from Food Reserve Agency (FRA) at a fixed price.

Cottan, who is also National Milling Company (NMC) managing director, said the millers in the country were at the moment receiving a steady supply of maize from FRA.

He said millers were currently working at increasing the mealie supply in the country as a way of stabilising the supply of the country's staple food.

“As far as current prices are concerned, all the millers are under contract with FRA and the price is fixed and so is the price of maize…but from March,” said Cottan.

“There are discussions going on between FRA, the ministry of agriculture and millers of whether these prices will remain the same. We don't know yet but we are getting stable supply of maize now.”

FRA is currently selling a 50-kilogramme bag of maize to millers at K55, 000.

Currently, a 25-kilogramme bag of breakfast mealie-meal in the country is selling at an average price of K47, 000 while the same quantity for roller meal is presently pegged at about K38, 000.

Meanwhile, the shortage of mealie-meal in Mazabuka has become a business opportunity as some traders are conspiring with transporters to illegally divert the consignments and offload before they reach their destinations.

Police in Mazabuka on Wednesday impounded a Lusaka-based truck loaded with mealie-meal from the National Milling Company meant for Mazabuka depot. This was after the truck driver diverted the commodity and started offloading into a canter truck for private business in the nearby bush.

The incident happened around 14:00 hours in Kaonga area after some members of the community who found the transporter offloading the commodity became suspicious and tipped the police.

A check at the scene found the Volvo truck registration number ABH 4820 of Madimba Constructions of Chelston in Lusaka which was offloading the mealie-meal being ordered by the police to stop.

The police then ordered the four-tonne canter truck registration number AJB 6839 which was carrying the offloaded commodity and the Volvo truck to the police.

Meanwhile, police nearly manhandled the driver of the canter truck for what they termed “monkey tricks” when he refused to move his truck, saying it had run out of fuel as they were heading for the police.

The driver twice pretended that his vehicle was faulty and later said it had run out of fuel, a situation that annoyed the police and prompted them to buy fuel from Vuma filling station to enable the truck reach the police station.

But the driver of the Volvo truck vindicated himself in the matter saying he was working under instructions from a depot official in Mazabuka who told him to offload the commodity in a private area.

He said he was transporting 400 bags of mealie-meal to the Mazabuka depot but that he was instructed that half of the consignment was already bought by some business persons from Monze.

But the canter driver denied to have been hired to take the commodity to Monze and only said he was told to load and take the commodity at the Mazabuka depot.

Efforts to talk to the National Milling depot manager in Mazabuka proved futile as he was being questioned by police by press time.

And Mazabuka district commissioner Tyson Hamaamba directed the police to detain both drivers and confiscated the mealie-meal.

Hamamba further summoned national milling management to explain how the distribution of the commodity was done.

He said it was inhuman to sell the scarce commodity to other places for profit making when people in the district were spending nights looking for it.

Hamamba confirmed that management at National Milling responded to his request and promised to report to his office by yesterday.

Labels: INFLATION, MEALIE-MEAL, PETER COTTAN

posted by MrK @ 9:22 AM