admincompany resumes operations, a senior Government official has said.
Secretary for Industry and Commerce Mrs Abigail Shonhiwa said in a statement last week that the restart of NewZim Steel was imminent.
Her remarks follow reports that NewZim Steel workers were facing serious problems and were failing to make ends meet as the firm was not able to meet salary obligations because it has not resumed operations due to shareholder issues.
“The ministry is fully aware of the hardships faced by the workers and their families at NewZim Steel in Redcliff. While the process to restart operations has gone beyond our expectations, the ministry would like to ensure the workforce and other stakeholders that operations will commence shortly,” she said.
However, what she would not disclose what action Government and Essar would take to ease the plight of workers who need money to pay for basic needs such as food, education and medical services.
It is also not clear whether Essar still had the same commitment to the acquisition of Government’s 60 percent interest in Zisco/NewZim Steel after issues arose on the extent of mining rights they should be entitled to considering at some stage they released funds for workers’ salaries.
Appearing before Parliament’s Industry and Commerce Committee last week, NewZim Steel/Zisco Artisans’ Union chairperson Mr Obert Shokombishi rapped Industry and Commerce Minister Professor Welshman Ncube saying he was not sympathetic as he only visited Redcliff once in 2011 for the official ceremony after Essar Africa acquired a majority stake in Zisco.
The workers’ representative blamed Minister Ncube for stalling the full consummation of the US$750 million Essar/Zisco deal. NewZim Steel has not resumed operations despite consummation of the deal in March 2010. The process was held up after the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development expressed reservations over the awarding of the entire mining rights held by NewZim Steel mining subsidiary, NewZim Minerals, beyond what NewZim Steel’s would ordinarily need for its operations.
The Mauritius-registered Indian company had presumably acquired most of Zimbabwe’s known iron reserves, including the vast Mwanesi deposits estimated at 32 billion tonnes, to feed NewZim Steel operations, which currently has a million tonnes annual capacity. Essar had indicated it would increase the capacity to about 2,5 million tonnes in the short to medium term.
In some quarters, this raised suspicions that the investors, who have operations elsewhere producing about 14 million tonnes annually, where in it more for feedstock into their global operations than reviving closed Ziscosteel.
These fears where further heightened when Essar announced plans to build a pipeline linking Chivhu, where the Mwanesi Range is located, and Beira in Mozambique to export iron ore slurry. Critics felt it was premature to think about such an investment long before NewZim Steel had been revived.
Online Reporter