Maravi

Shamenda decries MMD's failure to revive industries

Shamenda decries MMD's failure to revive industries
By Bright Mukwasa
Mon 05 Sep. 2011, 14:00 CAT

THE MMD's complacency towards reviving the country's industrial base is enough reason to vote it out of power this month, says Fackson Shamenda. In an interview, Shamenda, the former head of the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions and Ndola Central PF parliamentary candidate, said the failure by the current regime to revive many critical industries had left many Zambians in destitution.

"The whole place Ndola has collapsed. It has become a big Chisokone market. The whole town is in ruins, it's like there was a war or something. If you look at Dunlop, it was a manufacturing industry and we were manufacturing tyres and that time we had very few cars. Now the whole country is flooded with vehicles, that's when you decide to close the tyre industry," Shamenda said.

"Zamtel used to employ more than 3,000 people and now you sell it and there are less than 700 people who are employed. Then you say we are creating jobs? I fail to add up the mathematics.

If you give this government another five years, I don't know what will happen to the economy. I can't imagine what will happen to Ndola; we shall have nothing to talk about."

He said the current foreign direct investment had failed to benefit Zambians as claimed by the MMD.

Shamenda said he was not shaken by the MMD's opulence in this year's election.

"It does not because people are determined. Fortunately with the slogan of 'don't kubeba', people do appreciate that they cannot be perpetual beggars. They would rather get jobs so that they buy their own fitenges (chitenges), so that they buy their own T-shirts, so that they can buy their own buka buka fish. It's not that they are interested in becoming perpetual beggars; and where you beg once every five years," he said.

"All Zambians should rally together to have a change. I think in any system where you have a change of players, competition is very important and this is why these people are complacent. They are saying 'if they are being re-elected for another 20 years', they will think what they are doing, the people they are bullying around, the industries which are being destroyed. They think that's what the Zambians are enjoying."

Shamenda said the government had failed to create decent jobs for the youths.

Labels: COPPERBELT PROVINCE, FACKSON SHAMENDA, MANUFACTURING, NDOLA, NEOLIBERALISM

posted by MrK @ 5:56 PM