Maravi

Katuka urges need to revamp Mwinilunga pineapple cannery

Katuka urges need to revamp Mwinilunga pineapple cannery
By Abigail Sitenge
Thu 17 May 2012, 09:00 CAT

MWINILUNGA member of parliament Steven Katuka has urged the government to accelerate the search for a partner to help revamp the pineapple cannery in Mwinilunga. In an interview, Katuka observed that a bigger part of the district was strictly pineapple-growing and yet it did not have a market for the produce.

"There isn't much that has happened; the government who were saying they were trying to find a partner have not found anyone yet. I don't know what ideas they have for that cannery. Mwinilunga is a pineapple growing district; part of Mwinilunga is strictly pineapple-growing, so the pineapple farm has no market for the produce," Katuka complained.

He appealed to the government to facilitate the search for a strategic partner to help reopen the factory despite the challenges of electricity in the district.

"We have been appealing to government to facilitate in finding a strategic partner who can reopen the cannery or just contract another one although there are challenges of power, you know Mwinilunga has erratic power supply, it's not sustainable," he said.

Katuka also bemoaned the poor road network in the district which he said contributed to investors shunning the area.

Meanwhile, commerce permanent secretary Steven Mwansa said the government was not in a hurry to refurbish the pineapple plant as it had to find a suitable private partner.

Mwansa, in an interview, said the government would activate the search for a good partner who will work with the farmers in Mwinilunga.

"We are giving the project maximum attention. We have got farmers there with very good pineapples, top quality pineapples which we would like to put value to, government is insisting on value addition to many of our raw materials and natural resources but we don't want to just rush into a place and say we have started off, we've got to work on the markets, we've got to work on sustainability of the project, the financing and a lot of things," said Mwansa.

Labels: MANUFACTURING, PINEAPPLE, STEPHEN KATUKA

posted by MrK @ 6:03 PM