State shelves plans to sell Ndola Lime
By Times Reporter
MINES and Minerals Development Minister Maxwell Mwale has said the Government has discarded plans to privatise Ndola Lime Company, saying it is now up to the company management and workers to save the company from collapse.
Mr Mwale said Ndola Lime was a viable company which had potential to transform itself into the region’s largest producer of lime used in mining, agriculture and other activities.
Speaking when he held meetings with the company management and workers at the weekend, Mr Mwale said the Government had confidence in the ability of the Ndola Lime management and employees to sustain their company, which was strategically positioned.
“What is needed is the change of attitude and mindset coupled with hard work to have the company transformed and start contributing to the national treasury,” he said.
He said the Government wanted to see to ensure that the conditions of service for Ndola Lime employees were improved but that could only be done if the employees were productive.
Mr Mwale said the era in which parastatal firms were perceived to be unproductive had long gone because companies had no option but to strive or become irrelevant.
He warned the workers to desist from sabotaging the company property whenever they had grievances but instead follow right channels of communication.
The Government, through the Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines-Investments Holdings owns 100 per cent shares in Ndola Lime, which has export market for its lime in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe and Malawi.
Ndola Lime acting general manager Abraham Witika said the company had embarked on a US$74 million development project aimed at increasing production and installing modern equipment, which would make the company environment-friendly.
Mineworkers Union of Zambia branch chairperson Dominic Zonde said the workers and management were working in harmony with the aim of increasing the productivity levels.