By PRISCA LUMINGU in Chipata
GOVERNMENT has warned that it would not hesitate to blacklist millers that are colluding with traders to smuggle mealie meal across borders.
Agriculture Minister Reuben Mtolo Phiri said government would stop the supply of Food Reserve Agency-FRA maize to any miller that would be founding wanting in the smuggling of the commodity across the borders.
“If we find any miller colluding with traders, either themselves directly or through traders taking mealie meal across our boarders, we are going to shut the supply of our maize to that particular miller,” Mr Phiri said.
Mr Phiri said this yesterday after touring Kwacha Milling and Rainbow milling plants in Chipata, Eastern Province to check on the production and supply of mealie meal in the province.
He said government’s interest was to ensure that the subsided maize being offloaded to the Millers by FRA at a cost of K200 for a 50kg bag benefits the locals.
“We are giving them maize at K200. Where in Africa can you find maize at K200 a bag” Mr Phiri said.
Mr Phiri said government had started monitoring the millers to ensure that the maize FRA was offloading to them was benefiting the local people.
He said government wants to ensure that mealie meal supply on the market was stable.
Mr. Phiri also urged the Millers to buy enough maize from the farmers once the crop marketing season opens unlike entirely depending on FRA.
He said FRA was not a strategic reserve for millers and it should not be treated as such because the mandate of the agency was to keep the strategic reserve of the country.
He said government was doing it is part in managing the national strategic reserves as the country has enough reserves.
“We are not keeping maize to give to millers, we are keeping this as a strategic reserve. When millers don’t buy sufficient, we come in to support but this narrative should change,”Mr Phiri said.
He said millers should begin treating the milling industry as a business by starting to keep their own stock and not turn FRA as their depot.
Meanwhile Rainbow Milling manager Aiyub Patel appealed to government to put in place more stringent measures to address the issue of smuggling which is causing the high demand of the commodity.
Mr. Patel said it was shocking that even women vendors in the province had now become mealie meal dealers because of the rise in smuggling of the commodity.
And speaking earlier, Kwacha Milling general manager Salim Mitha said the supply of mealie meal had stabilized on the market and that the order price for a 25 kg breakfast bag of mealie meal was fetching at k178.
Meanwhile Food Reserve Agency-FRA board chairperson Kelvin Hambwezya assured the millers of the agency’s continue support on ensuring that they receive enough maize in order to stability the current mealie meal uncertainty in some parts of the country.
