Maravi

Rupiah warns private sector against taking advantage of FRA’s absence in some

Rupiah warns private sector against taking advantage of FRA’s absence in some locations
Written by Kabanda Chulu and Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Tuesday, June 02, 2009 3:54:36 PM

PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda yesterday warned the private sector against taking advantage of the absence of the FRA in some locations and offer unreasonable prices to farmers. And President Banda said the education system must be directed to problem solving.

Officially launching the 2009/10 crop-marketing season and commissioning the rehabilitated 15,000 metric tonnes-capacity Lusaka grain silos, President Banda said the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) would this year concentrate its operations in remote areas so that the private sector could operate in the easily accessible areas.

"Government would like to see the private sector playing a leading role in crop marketing and they should not take advantage of the absence of FRA in these locations and start offering farmers unreasonable prices. Indeed the private sector participated very well in crop marketing but there was a lot of speculation by various market players," President Banda said.

"As a result the price of maize and mealie meal went up due to lack of transparency and on the part of some players who did not fully disclose the quantity of stocks they were holding thereby creating an artificial shortage of maize."

He directed the stock monitoring committee under the Ministry of Agriculture to work closely with the Central Statistical Office to ensure that stock position was closely monitored and correct information passed on to the government.

"Those found not to be accurately reporting their stocks will be dealt with within the provisions of the law," he said.

President Banda said grain silos were the most convenient means for crop handling and storage when compared to other forms of storage facilities.

"I have no doubt that the losses associated with deteriorating crop quality due to long periods of out door storage will be reduced with the rehabilitation of the silos," said President Banda.

And Zimbabwe Grain Marketing Board (GMB) vice chairman Basilio Sandamu said the development was a testimony of what could be achieved when working together.

And FRA chairman Costain Chilala said the silos would further improve FRA's capacity to sufficiently store food reserves.

And President Banda told delegates to the three-day National Curriculum Review Symposium that the country needed a curriculum that would serve as a powerful force for poverty eradication and transformation of society towards achieving the status of a middle income and prosperous nation by 2030.

"The history of curriculum reform in Zambia has, let us admit it, been less than impressive in terms of lacking harmony and clear linkages within and across learning and training levels," President Banda said in a speech read for him by presidential affairs minister Ronald Mukuma during the symposium being held at Mulungushi International Conference Centre.

"It is therefore important that fragmentation and incoherence in conceptualization of our curriculum should henceforth be eliminated. But educators know very well that curriculum design does not deal with content delineation."

Earlier, provincial education officer for Northern Province Selisho Chanda said the current education curriculum was only able to support pupils that had academic intelligence and not other spheres of education.

Labels: BASILIO SANDAMU, EDUCATION, FRA, INFRASTRUCTURE, MAIZE, RUPIAH BANDA, SILOS, ZIMBABWE

posted by MrK @ 2:57 PM