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Leonard Ncube
HWANGE Colliery Company Limited (HCCL) says coal production is improving and the firm is on the right path to achieve its target of producing about 300 000 tonnes of coal per month.
Over the years production went down owing to a number of challenges including financial problems, demotivated employees and over reliance on contractors. HCCL was placed under administration by the Government in 2018 following persistent losses amid technical insolvency with liabilities exceeding assets, among others. Bekithemba Moyo is the administrator. The company does both underground and open cast mining with the help of contractors.
The coal miner has been making efforts to resuscitate meaningful production while at the same time embarking on strategies to motivate employees, with wellness and health programmes being some of the initiatives. Production has been picking lately, according to the company management.
In an interview during the company’s wellness workplace event in Hwange on Friday, general manager in charge of operations, Lawrence Manjengwa, said the company was sensitive to the need to motivate workers and reducing medical costs for them.
“This is a special day for Hwange Colliery and the community. It’s important that we prioritise health because the kind of work that we do requires that we promote health and safety as part of our zero-hazard strategy,” he said.
“We are under reconstruction and already in a journey to try and improve our production hence it’s important to complement that so that we have healthy employees. There is a lot happening in an effort to stabilize our operations as we try to head towards our objective.
“We are on a ramp up programme and given where are coming from and where we are, we have made significant movement. We are currently producing just under 200 000 tonnes of coal per month but our objective is to continue rolling up until we meet the maximum capacity of the organisation.”
Hwange had set a target of producing 300 000 tonnes of coal per month by year end before Covid-19 hit the country. Reading managing director Dr Charles Zinyemba’s speech earlier, Manjengwa said the administration roadmap was assisting HCCL to get back to productivity and profitability. He also noted that the wellness programme was critical in promoting a healthy and productive workforce.
The wellness programme started last year and is part of HCCL’s initiatives in line with its ISO 90001:2015 certification and involves screening for various health conditions and other programmes. A number of initiatives are being implemented by HCCL to motivate employees to produce more.
Bongani Ndlovu