admin
In an interview yesterday soon after a Ministry of Industry and Commerce familiarisation tour of the plant in Gweru, the company’s managing director, Mr Louis Pinto, said the company which has a staff complement of 1 500 workers has the potential to employ about 400 more workers when it starts operating at full throttle.
“The company is on the recovery path and at the present moment we are producing 50 000 pairs of shoes per week and we want to improve our production to 75 000 pairs per week very soon,” said Mr Pinto.
He said the company had acquired state-of-the-art machinery to replace the ageing machinery that was at the plant.
Mr Pinto said the new machinery, which cost $125 000, contributed a lot to the company’s recovery.
“We continue to buy new machinery and so far we have deposited quite a significant amount of money towards the purchase of another new machinery to boost production,” he said.
Mr Pinto said plans were underway to engage an additional 400 workers so that the company can operate at full capacity.
“At the moment, we are operating at around 70 percent capacity but very soon we will be at 100 percent. When at full capacity, we would require an additional 400 workers,” he said.
Mr Pinto, however, bemoaned high tariff charges by service providers such as Zesa and Gweru City Council.
He said the company was paying about $25 000 electricity bill per month while the water bill gobbles between $8 000 and $10 000 per month.
“The road to Bata’s recovery is not only hinged on the need for funding. There are a lot of things at play and the most worrying for now are the high tariff charges by service providers such as Zesa and Gweru City Council.
“In recent months our monthly water and electricity bills have been ranging between $8 000 and $24 000 respectively. We believe this is too much and something needs to be done to protect companies from the tendency of overcharging by these service providers,” he said.
Mr Pinto said it also costs the company $5 000 to transport a consignment of raw materials from Durban port to the Gweru plant.
“What is surprising, however, is that the same raw material would have been shipped from as far as China or Brazil at only $2 000 and you can imagine how difficult it is for us to really move towards 100 percent production,” he said.
Mr Pinto said the company also faces complications when trying to export its products outside Africa, a development which he said needed to be looked into by Government.
Industry and Commerce Deputy Minister, Mike Bimha who was leading the touring team commended Bata management for working hard to try and turn around the company’s fortunes.
Deputy Minister Bimha said his ministry was crafting business friendly policies to facilitate the recovery of industries. “The Government is fully aware of the challenges faced by industry, which is trying to pick itself up from a difficult economic period.
“In response to the challenges and many recapitalisation hindrances that have been raised by our industry, Government is working on some policies as well as putting in place mechanisms that will make business very flexible and allow our industries to recover,” he said.
Deputy Minister Bimha, who toured other companies in Gweru, said most of them were being affected by one major constraint — lack of funding.
“Our familiarisation tour has helped us appreciate the challenges faced by companies. The major problem facing most of the companies, some of which are operating at only five percent production, is lack of funding. As a Ministry we will make sure that the Government fund for the distressed industries is quickly disbursed to bail out ailing companies,” he said.
Some industries that Deputy Minister Bimha toured in Gweru include ZimAlloys, Zimglass, Carridon Abrasives and Anchor Yeast.
Online Reporter