Chronicle Editor
Natasha Chamba, Business Reporter
THE Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ) has assured the nation that millers have adequate maize meal stocks that can take the country to the next harvesting season.
Panic over inadequate stocks emerged in the past week when the country experienced illegal protests called by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions which saw most shops in Bulawayo’s high density suburbs being emptied by marauding looters who also went on a rampage destroying property worth millions of dollars.
Speaking during a tour of the milling industry in Bulawayo yesterday, GMAZ chairman Mr Tafadzwa Musarara said the illegal protests affected the numbers of maize meal stocks but despite this, millers have adequate stocks to meet the nation’s demand.
“What happened in the past week is quite unfortunate because it disrupted the flow of business and also affected numbers of maize meal stocks. In spite of the unfortunate events, millers have enough stocks to meet the nation’s growing demand for maize meal,” he said.
The tour, which was facilitated by GMAZ, was also attended by Bulawayo Provincial Affairs Minister Judith Ncube.
Four millers in the city namely Sunset, Blue Ram, Blue Ribbon and National Foods were visited.
Minister Ncube said Government was working on ways to deliver basic commodities among them, mealie-meal, to areas that were affected by the violent protests.
“Millers are working hard to make sure that the nation’s food security is secured and that is commendable.
“Government is now working on a way to deliver basic commodities to the western suburbs which were mainly affected by the illegal protests and so far, churches have approached the Government to offer this service and this should be applauded,” she said.
Mr Musarara said the industry lost stocks worth $3 million during the illegal and violent protests.
“We lost maize meal worth $1,3 million and other products like flour worth $1,7 million amounting to $3 million worth of stocks that have been looted and yet to be paid for by millers.
“We have a very good number of honest enterprises in Bulawayo who have been receiving our stocks on account and paying on time, but because of this predicament, they are unable to pay and it’s a risk that is not going to be covered by insurance, it’s a risk that will be written off as bad debts,” he said.
Mr Musarara said the money lost was not worrisome to the association but securing the available stock should be prioritised.
He appealed to Government to make sure that millers in Bulawayo were secure from any future violent protests that can disturb food security in the nation.
All of the city’s millers visited by GMAZ reported that demand for their products was still quite high since November last year as consumers started buying for the festive season.
An official from National Foods who preferred not to be named told Minister Ncube during the tour of the company that between Thursday and Saturday last week, the agro-processing firm supplied 2 200 tonnes of maize meal to Bulawayo and the Matabeleland region.
The official said the figure was the highest National Foods has ever supplied in a short period of time.
“In the past days we broke our personal record as we supplied 2 200t of maize meal, something we haven’t done within a space of such a short period; 60 percent was supplied to Bulawayo and the rest to the outlying areas,” said the official.
National Foods was presently producing between 250 tonnes and 300 tonnes of mealie-meal a day.
Blue Ribbon was producing 30 tonnes of mealie-meal an hour while Blue Ram and Sunset indigenous millers were producing an average of 70 tonnes and 50 tonnes a day respectively.
— @queentauruszw
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