The Parliamentary Accounts Committee on Parastatal Bodies continues on its trail to visit all the state institutions that it has earmarked for its attention.
The Committee has today, Friday, 20th May 2022 been on the copperbelt as it continues to visit and appreciate the operations and get first hand attestations of some of the challenges that are faced by some of the parastatals, especially those that were cited in the AGs report. While on the copperbelt, the committee visited ZAFFICO where they toured the different sections of the company to witness and appreciate the operations as well as verify the information that was submitted to the committee regarding the companies operations.
Speaking from the Pole treatment plant in Kalulushi, the committee chair, Honorable Brian Kambita MP, revealed to Melo Media that their findings suggest that ZAFFICO actually has the capacity to run and produce to it’s expected levels. He however mentioned that this does not overrule the obvious fact that the company does infact face challenges in its operations. He cited depletion of the matured plants at the plantation as one of the challenges to which he suggested further investment as a solution. He also mentioned slowness in the natural process of drying of the logs as another challenge. To curb this challenge he said the company has come up with an initiative to purchase a kiln, which will expedite the process of log drying. With the kiln, production is expected to rise from 70,000 current capacity to about 140,000 or above.
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