Maravi

FRA boasts of sufficient maize stocks in reserves

COMMENT - How long is 178,000 metric tonnes going to last the country in a crisis. Everything goes back to not taxing the mines. The lack of money in government, the incessant borrowing, the consequent high interest rates because money is borrowed by government and therefore unavailable for entrepreneurs and consumers, and the absence of money for investment in capital goods like silos. This the cost of corruption at the highest levels. Saying that 178k mt is ok is saying that it is ok for the Zambian people to die of starvation in case of a calamity. The foreign mining companies are vampires sucking the lifeblood out of the country.

FRA boasts of sufficient maize stocks in reserves
By Namatama Mundia in Chambishi
Sun 28 Mar. 2010, 04:00 CAT

THE Food Reserve Agency (FRA) has said it still has 178,000 metric tonnes of maize in its reserves.

And FRA executive director Dr Anthony Mwanaumo has said the agency will soon commerce rehabilitations of its concrete grain silos at Natuseko in Kabwe and Bwana Mkubwa in Ndola at a cost of K27 billion.

In an interview in Chambishi on Thursday after touring the Chambishi shed, Dr Mwanaumo said the agency had good quality maize grain countrywide.

“We have better quality maize than the private sector and this maize can be sold anywhere in the region, its 178,000 metric tonnes of maize countrywide,” he said.

Dr Mwanaumo said FRA would provide support to the flood victims if the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) requested for relief food.

He said some of the maize grain would go to the external markets.

“But this is after the stock monitoring committee is satisfied that the country has enough stock. At no time can we sell maize at the expense of local consumption,” Dr Mwanaumo said.

In his concluding remarks after a tour of Kalomo, Chisamba, Kapiri Mposhi, Serenje and Chambishi, Dr Mwanaumo said storage sheds were very critical.

“The structures will go a long way in reducing post harvest losses and as FRA, we are happy with the project,” he said.

Dr Mwanaumo said the sheds would be completed on time so as to secure storage facilities for new maize.

He said maintenance of the new sheds and the already existing ones was very important.

And Dr Mwanaumo said rehabilitation works at Natuseko and Bwana Mkubwa silos were expected to start before the end of this year.

He said both Natuseko and Bwana Mkubwa silos would be able to store 45,000 metric tonnes of maize once completed.

Dr Mwanaumo said works at the two silos would include civil and structural repairs to the concrete bins and silo buildings, repairs to the electrical and mechanical equipment and general uplift of the plant and buildings.

“The tender for the consultant is quite advanced and works will commerce soon,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kalulushi district commissioner Joshua Mutisa said the new shed being constructed in Chambishi, would improve the province’s ability to store maize for both local consumption and export to Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Mutisa said this when the FRA officials visited his office in Kalulushi.

He said the new structures would improve storage of maize.

Dr Mwanaumo said the Chambishi shed was strategic because it was a gate way to Katanga province.

He also called for concerted efforts in monitoring the assets (sheds).

“There has to be concerted efforts at all levels, it’s not only about FRA,” said Dr Mwanaumo.

Labels: ANTHONY MWANAUMO, FRA, MAIZE

posted by MrK @ 4:08 PM