Barclays scraps ATMs fees
By Darious Kapembwa
Wed 23 Mar. 2011, 04:01 CAT
BARCLAYS Bank Zambia has introduced free ATM services for both corporate and retail clients countrywide. Managing director Saviour Chibiya announced at a breakfast meeting in Kitwe yesterday that the bank wanted to standardise its operations with other banks around the world.
“Banks generally charge ATM (Automated Teller Machines) charges and our customers have raised the question as to why they should be paying to withdraw their money and there is logic to that argument,” Chibiya said.
He said the bank had since responded to its customers’ cry and all ATM transactions at all Barclays outlets would be free starting mid next month.
“There is a small fee charged for using ATMs but that same small charge can make a difference to customers and that is why we had to forego the charge to give our customers what they want from us,” he added.
He said the bank would focus its lending to the agriculture sector due to the sector’s contribution to the country’s Gross Domestic Product GDP.
Chibiya said the bank had increased the lending portfolio to agriculture to the tune of 15 per cent.
He explained that the bank would work in collaboration with the Zambia National Farmers Union to manage the risks inherent in the sector.
Chibiya said the bank was making efforts to exceed customer expectations in terms of service provision.
He said other sectors of the economy must do more to ensure that they caught up with the mining sector in contributing to the GDP of the country.
Chibiya said it was not true that Zambia could move away from depending on copper, saying the red metal could work side by side with other sectors as long as those other sectors worked hard.
Labels: ATM, BANKING, BARCLAYS BANK, LEVIES
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ZNFU advises councils to be innovative
Written by Florence Bupe
Wednesday, September 30, 2009 4:48:06 AM
THE Zambia National Farmers’ Union (ZNFU) has advised district councils to come up with other innovations to raise income as opposed to relying on council levies obtained from small-scale farmers.
ZNFU liaison officer Coillard Hamusimbi said
it was unfair that small-scale farmers should be sustaining council operations through the payment of council levies when they were not benefitting in any way.
“If council levies were such a critical income, council authorities should have been able to plough back into the agriculture sector. It is unfortunate that farmers have been neglected despite the fact that they were providing a substantial amount of income for district councils through levies,” Hamunsimbi said.
President Rupiah Banda, during his speech to parliament, directed district councils to abolish council levies charged on small-scale farmers for the transfer of their produce to the market, saying this added on to the challenges that farmers faced and complicated the pricing system of their produce.
However, some district councils have expressed concern at the abolition of the levies, saying they were a major source of their income and that they would have problems finding an alternative source of the required funds.
But Hamusimbi charged that most small-scale farmers, who were mostly in rural areas, still faced a lot of challenges in marketing their produce due to lack of infrastructure.
Hamunsimbi said council levies were economically unreasonable for the farmers especially that they were usually charged before farmers even sold their produce.
Labels: COILLARD HAMUSIMBI, LEVIES, LOCAL GOVERNMENT, RUPIAH BANDA, ZNFU
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Scrapping of crop levy to cost East councils K3.9bn
Written by Christopher Miti in Chipata
Saturday, September 26, 2009 6:00:44 PM
THE Local Government Association of Zambia (LGAZ) in Eastern Province has said local authorities in the province would be losing about K3.9 billion annually following the scrapping of crop levy.
In an interview on Thursday, LGAZ provincial chairperson Sinoya Mwale, who is also former Chipata mayor, said the government's move to scrap the levy was like inviting councils to fail to pay workers.
"We had a meeting on 23rd September, that is yesterday. We were trying to look at the scrapping of crop levy. We heard the announcement from the President but upon hearing that, we called for an urgent meeting for the association which comprises all the councils in the province," he said.
Mwale said they discussed a number of issues and looked at the effects that the scrapping of the levy would bring to the councils.
"Just for your own information, we will be losing about K3.9 billion towards the same so the main purpose of meeting was to make sure that we appeal to the head of state through the association headquarters so that may be we can be considered as councils and that at the end of the day it can benefit all," he said.
Mwale said most councils benefited a lot from crop levy because it was a good source of revenue.
He said it could be ideal if the government could entrust the councils with the responsibility of issuing licences now that crop levy was scrapped.
He said Chipata municipal would lose about K539 million, Petauke district council would lose about K600 million, Lundazi K600 million, Chama K300 million and Chadiza would also lose a lot.
Mwale said there was also need to revisit the evaluation role to the properties because the current ones were outdated.
He said if the scrapping of crop levy was effected, then it would be ideal for the government to start paying council workers because councils would not have the capacity.
"If this is going to effected then all what we can say is that may be the government can start paying council workers or they should be put on government pay roll. We don't want to have a situation which was there before where councils were failing to pay their workers but now councils are able to manage their affairs in terms of paying their workers," he said.
Mwale said there were some companies who owed the councils billions of kwacha in unpaid crop levy.
President Banda scrapped crop levy during the opening of parliament recently.
Labels: EASTERN PROVINCE, LEVIES, TAXATION
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ZNFU urges implementation of council levies abolition
Written by Florence Bupe
Monday, September 21, 2009 4:42:28 PM
THE Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) has said the abolition of council levies for small-scale farmers needs to be taken further than just a pronouncement.
Commenting on the announcement by President Rupiah Banda in his speech to Parliament last Friday that he had directed district councils to stop levying farmers for transporting their produce to the market, ZNFU president Jervis Zimba said this was a long overdue and welcome development, but emphasised that the pronouncement should be implemented.
"ZNFU would like to commend government for intervening in this matter which has been disadvantaging small scale farmers for a long time now. It has been a burden for us, especially that we did not know the usage of the levies," Zimba said. "This directive is what the union has been looking for, but we demand that the concerned ministry adheres to the directive."
President Banda last week directed the local government ministry to abolish council levies on small-scale farmers, observing that they were complicating farmers' marketing efforts and adding on to the challenges that farmers face in marketing their produce.
Zimba said the levies were counterproductive to the agriculture sector and reduced farmers' profits further.
He welcomed the extension of the crop marketing season by government through the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) from the initial closure of September 30 to October 31 this year. The extension was facilitated to compensate for the delays at the beginning of the season.
Zimba advised small-scale farmers to stop supplying their produce to briefcase buyers and millers, but instead sell their grain to FRA at the recommended floor price of K65,000 for a 50 kilogramme bag of maize.
"All farmers should ensure that they deliver their maize to FRA as soon as possible. We also urge FRA to pay farmers on time to allow them access farming inputs before the onset of the rains," he said.
And Zimba said members of parliament should fairly represent famers during their sittings, and see to it that FRA fulfils its obligation of holding 250,000 tonnes of strategic food reserves.
Labels: JERVIS ZIMBA, LEVIES, LOCAL GOVERNMENT, ZNFU
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ZNFU calls for practical approach to small-scale farmers’ problems
Written by Florence Bupe
Monday, September 07, 2009 2:51:50 PM
THE Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) has called for a practical approach to problems affecting small-scale farmers in the country.
And Mansa District Farmers Association chairperson George Mwila has urged the government to normalise cross-border trade with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and allow small-scale farmers in the province to export their grain to that country.
Officiating at the launch of the ZNFU regional office in Mansa last Friday, ZNFU president Jervis Zimba said the problems facing the agricultural sector, particularly the small-scale farming community required a massive and decisive joint action by all stakeholders.
“The union has long observed that the problems facing farmers today, which are ranging from production, input access, agricultural finance and marketing are well known but what is lacking is a practical approach to resolve them,” Zimba said. “Put simply, implementation is lacking.”
Zimba said the small-scale farming sector had been strained further through the insistence of the local government ministry to make them pay council levies.
He observed that the use of the levies which the farmers were made to pay remained unclear.
He disclosed that the union had since proposed that 60 per cent of all the council levies received from farmers should go towards the rehabilitation of infrastructure that would benefit the agricultural sector, such as the road network.
“Last year, the union and the local government ministry established a joint working group which reviewed various council levies which farmers are forced to pay. Farmers will agree with me that in the recent past, council levies have become a huge cost being incurred by farmers when transferring their produce to markets,” Zimba said.
He said some district councils were charging as high as K7,000 per 50- kilogramme bag of maize for farmers to get their produce to the market.
Zimba further charged that the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) had proved ineffective and incapable in offering market solutions to small-scale farmers.
“FRA both as a strategic food reserve and marketing institution has proved ineffective and incapable in providing market solutions. The problems of marketing have become ancient, perennial and infinitum,” said Zimba.
And Mwila has said DRC offers a ready market for farmers in Luapula Province, and called on the government to facilitate trade between the two regions.
Meanwhile, Luapula Province permanent secretary Jazzman Chikwakwa has called for the speedy payment of farmers’ dues to allow them to access farming inputs for the next season.
Labels: DRC, FARMERS, GEORGE MWILA, JAZZMAN CHIKWAKWA, JERVIS ZIMBA, LEVIES, ZNFU
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Review parking levy
By NANCY MWAPE
THE Lusaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has appealed to the Lusaka City Council to review the parking levy procedure.
LCCI chief executive officer, Gabriel Chingwe, in a statement said the current system where only selected roads in the central business district (CBD) collect the parking levy should be reviewed to capture the whole district without prejudice or discrimination.
Mr Chingwe said currently parking levy was collected mainly from private vehicles, which parked in the CBD. He said other classes of vehicles like Government or parastatal vehicles were not compelled to pay for parking in the CBD.
“We note that public service vehicles pay loading fees which are equivalent to parking levy within the stations that they load from. Hence we propose that the parking levy be collected from all vehicles entering the CBD,” he said.
Mr Chingwe said collection points should be located on all roads entering the CBD citing the three fly-over bridges, Kalambo-Lumumba junction, Mumbwa-Lumumba road junction and the Lumumba-Ben Bella junction.
He said this system would not only decongest the CBD but would also boost the municipality coffers.
He said motorists who are enroute to Lusaka but have nothing to do in the CBD could use other routes.
He said the parking fee could be increased slightly and be paid by all vehicles entering the CBD.
Mr Chingwe cited Britain where former London mayor, Ken Livingstone introduced a bye-law that compelled motorists entering the CBD to pay a toll fee during working hours from 08:00 hours to 17:00 hours.
He said the system has worked very well especially that they now have surveillance cameras installed to capture defaulters who speed away without paying the toll fees.
“We are confident that a complete review of the parking levy system on an equitable basis that is strictly enforced will reduce congestion and also improve the revenue for the local authority,” he said.
Effects to get a comment from the council by press time failed.
Labels: LCC, LCCI, LEVIES, TAXATION
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