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Pamela Shumba Senior Reporter—
AGRICULTURE, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister Joseph Made has dismissed reports that the Cold Storage Company (CSC) was failing to take off due to lack of dialogue between him and the board saying a lot of issues have to be looked at before approving the parastatal’s turnaround plan. Legislators recently blasted Made following a report by a committee on agriculture that revealed that the minister has “never met” the CSC board to discuss the turnaround strategies for the troubled parastatal since its appointment in 2011.
Findings from the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Lands, Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development indicated that there was lack of dialogue between the board and Minister Made, who is supposed to give policy direction to the company, in line with Section 31 (1) of the Cold Storage Commission Act.
The committee expressed concern that lack of dialogue between the board and the minister had the potential to jeopardise any turnaround strategies being proposed for the parastatal. “It’s not true that CSC is failing to take off because of me,” Made responded in an interview.
“The turnaround plan isn’t approved just like that but it’s a strategic issue, which has to be carefully looked as what we’ve done with Arda. “It also relates to the forensic audit that must take place but the key is really the issue of looking at some of the activities that Arda is already doing. These activities are going to feed into the CSC in terms of livestock development.”
Minister Made said he had no time to pay attention to people who were concentrating on negative things instead of the development of the country’s agricultural sector and the economy.
“I don’t respond to such issues because they don’t bring any development. I’m used to working behind the scenes strategising, planning ahead and bringing results. That’s the message I carry to our agricultural institutions. Every parastatal in agriculture better take note of that,” he said.
“We’ve serious work to do and that’s exactly what we’re going to focus on. We’ve been given direction by President Mugabe (Robert) that every body of water must be turned into production. We shouldn’t worry about those who just talk of negative things. I’m interested in the developmental, strategic, positive things not the negative things that people choose to say.”
Since 2009 CSC has been operating at less than 10 percent of its capacity and continues to battle the legacy debts running into millions of dollars, which frustrates its viability.
The portfolio committee also said the CSC, a strategic industrial pillar in the economy, was failing to take of, partly because of lack of political will by the government.
CSC was established in 1937 in terms of the Cold Storage Commission Act, with the mandate of procuring, processing and marketing beef, lamb, goat and related products.
The government is the sole shareholder in the company that owns three abattoirs in Chinhoyi, Bulawayo and Masvingo. The firm was commercialised in 1995 and also owns a canning and a tannery subsidiaries, both which are located in Bulawayo, its headquarters.
However, the canning company is not operational because of lack of inputs from the parent company while the tannery is currently under judicial management.
Online Reporter