adminObert Chifamba Manicaland Bureau Chief
Government’S 100-day work plan has given the timber industry the momentum to recover, Allied Timbers chief executive Dr Dan Sithole has said.
In an interview with The Herald last week, Dr Sithole said the gains recorded in the past 100 days have shown the industry’s inherent potential.
“We did an inventory and discovered that between 2000 and 2015, the industry had been concentrating on just cutting timber and not planting, which created a 15-year gap, leaving the country with timber enough to last us between nine and 10 years only.
“Essentially, we made a pledge to plant 6 000ha of trees every year for 10 years as a way of bridging the gap and guaranteeing continuity in the industry.
“The 6 000ha of trees per year programme was subsequently launched at Erin Estate by the Minister of Environment, Water and Climate, Cde Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, last month,” said Dr Sithole.
He said they had to act as an industry to serve timber forests from extinction.
“Our mandate is to guarantee timber resources into the future, so we have to plant and replant, as well as protect the trees from illegal settlers, pests, diseases and veld fires. I am sure you will appreciate that it takes 25 years for pine trees, so we need to make sure there is enough stock to harvest every year by growing more and more trees,” explained Dr Sithole.
Allied Timbers, he said, had been able to receive funding through the Belarus facility.
“We secured $15 million for recapitalisation; so we are going to bring in 21st century equipment for maintenance and establishment of more road networks in the forests. We used the 100 days to retool, repair saw mills and equipment and also bought a saw mill for Erin Estate. We retooled the Gwendingwe Estate and Mutewa Forest boilers, bought two forklifts, a D8 dozer and rehabilitated a grader for road maintenance,” he said.
Allied Timbers has also bought 10 vehicles for its retail outlets.
“Most of those industries that are surviving and operating under the current harsh economic patch are timber-based, so the timber industry is critical for the entire Zimbabwean economy,” he said.
Online Reporter