Pakistani shop closed

without a licence and violating the Zimbabwe’s investment laws.
The owners of the backyard business along South Avenue in the city centre Mr Sheik Abdul Salam and his son Faisal Muhammad duped the Zimbabwe Investment Authority in 2008 that they intended to invest US$650 000 to make blankets, jeans and overalls.
ZIA gave the pair, trading as Tonia Investment (PVT) Ltd, an investment certificate valid for two years in the belief that they were serious investors bringing in foreign direct investment. In their investment proposal to ZIA, the two pledged US$200 000 in assets and capital equipment from abroad worth US$450 000. The assets were supposed to be invested within two years after obtaining an investment licence from ZIA. But a visit to their business premises on Thursday by the principal chief immigration officer Mr Clemence Masango, officials from ZIA and the Ministry of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment, showed the pair had six domestic sewing machines and five workers crammed in a dilapidated building along South Avenue.
It was also discovered that Tonia Investment, which is supposed to be a garment making firm, was instead running a retail shop along Cameroon Street. An incensed Mr Masango immediately shut down the company.
“If you people say you are investors, I want to see manufacturing taking place at the right place and not in the Central Business District. This is unacceptable. Either you comply with what the certificate from ZIA says or you pack your bags and go,” Mr Masango told Mr Muhammad. Mr Muhammad admitted that they had pledged a US$650 000 investment when they obtained a licence for making blankets from ZIA. – HR.