admincompany in 2011.
Despite Government and the Indian company signing a US$750 million agreement for the takeover of the company, disagreements over the control of iron ore reserves have hampered implementation of the deal.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry and Commerce Mrs Abigail Shonhiwa told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Industry and Commerce of the delegation’s visit yesterday, adding that Essar resident director for the Middle East and Africa, Ms Firdhose Coovodia, was already in the country
“The deal is still there and it was re-confirmed by Cabinet on September 12 last year,” she said.
“We have held a number of meetings and we are expecting the initial team to be on the ground tomorrow. In our discussions, we said that operations have to start.
“This is the team coming from our partners who were previously at Zisco. We had hoped that these people get on the ground earlier, but I got confirmation that they will be here last week and I also got the confirmation yesterday (Monday). They will be here to work with old Zisco management to get things going.”
The suspension of operations at New Zimbabwe Steel has resulted in untold suffering for its 3 000 workers and their dependants.
The workers were last paid around June last year.
Mrs Shonhiwa also told the committee the Office of the President and Cabinet was working to expedite implementation of the agreement.
“Things were not happening – so it just escalated to a higher level and the Office of the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet was involved. It was that anxiety that things should start moving – that is how the Office of the President and Cabinet was involved,” Mrs Shonhiwa said.
She added discussions on the outstanding issues were progressing well and Government was committed to the fruition of the deal.
Chairperson of the committee Mr William Mutomba said they were worried at the continued delay in the implementation of the deal as it had caused the suffering of the workers.
“This committee has been given numerous commitments that operations would resume at Zisco,” he said. “What assurances can you give that operations will resume because we are worried about the situation of workers who are failing to send children to school and are suffering?”
Meanwhile, New Ziana reports that the Government and Essar have started joint exploration of Mwanetsi Ranch in Chivhu to ascertain the exact amount of iron ore deposits in the area. Mines and Mining Development Deputy Minister Gift Chimanikire said this was a move towards resumption of operations.
“We have now started a joint venture exploration with Essar in the Mwanetsi area so that we know the exact amount of iron ore that we are giving these guys,” he said.
“For too long now we have relied on unofficial estimates. So, we are conducting this exploration exercise so that we put to rest this issue. We hope to conclude soon and hopefully operations will then resume at Zisco.”
Some estimates have put the value of the mineral resources at US$30 billion.
Deputy Minister Chimanikire said the Government was committed to ensuring the deal went through.
Online Reporter