Plans by a South African firm to invest US $80 million into a palm oil plantation and a refinery plant in Nchelenge district of Luapula Province has stalled following the alleged refusal by area Member of Parliament, Benny Mwila, to give his blessing to the project.
Nchelenge District Council Secretary (CS), Mwilu Lukwesa, said a council meeting held in September this year resolved to grant 250 hectares of land in Mulwe area to the firm called Biomax.
The CS said the council meeting also resolved to recommend to the President through the Ministry of Lands to grant an extra 9,250 hectare land to enable the company start its project.
Mr. Lukwesa told ZANIS that when Biomax went to the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) it was advised to get the blessings of Nchelenge Constituency area Member of Parliament before embarking on the development of the palm oil plantation and the refinery plant.
He said Mr. Mwila, who is also National Democratic Focus (NDF) leader, has allegedly not accepted the resolution made by the council and is demanding that another council meeting be held in which he should be present so that the matter could be discussed again.
“As Council Secretary it is only now that I am learning of the regulation that for any investment project to go on, it has to have the blessings of the MP. May be it is because of the magnitude of the investment,” Mr. Lukwesa said.
Mr. Lukwesa said despite being area Member of Parliament, Mr. Mwila is an ordinary councillor in the Nchelenge District Council and should advise the Local Authority if he notices an error instead of demanding that another meeting be reconvened.
“The council meeting, in which it was decided to give the land to the investors, was held two months ago according to council regulations. I can only reconvene such a meeting after six months,” Mr. Lukwesa said.
Efforts to get a comment from Mr Mwila by press time proved futile as the only response on his cell phone was a recording “the mobile subscriber you have called is either outside the coverage area or have their phone switched off.”
Biomax plans to invest US $80 million in the project and needs about 9500 hectares of land for it to set up a palm oil plantation and a palm oil refinery plant.
The company, which is scheduled to start full operations by 2010, plans to produce bio-diesel which it will sell as 5 per cent biodiesel and 95 per cent petroldiesel.
The Firms also plans to set up an Electricity Generating Power Station, a Palm oil Mill, and Offices, a staff Training Centre, a workshop and an irrigation system which will tap water from Lake Mweru.
ZANIS/ENDS/ESM/EB
no. 1
Mr.Mwila is a stumbling block. he needs to be kicked out of the way!
mR MWILA U ARE DEAD WOOD…WE NID PALM OIL WICH IS GUD FOR OUR HEALTH
BY, please don’t stall progress.. Otherwise everybody will blame RB for the lack of development.
It’s sad
palm oil is second fm coconut oil as it hs less un saturated fat compared to sunflower,corn and gnut oil……which are have poly unsatulated oils….dangerous to ur health…..
please let us allow the govt to carry out a proper check on these companies before giving them contracts.Let the zambian people benfit from these investors with proper taxing of the firms, and not allow them to just plunder our resources.So pardon Hon Benny Mwila for taking his stance its for the good of his people
Mwandi B.Y don’t listen to these bloggers why should we give up our land to foreigners all the time.Only Zambians can make Zambia rich .you think foreigners will go out of their way to enrich you.Wake up Zambia please. Sell that land to a zambian investor. Oh sorry you are giving out land? then give it to a Zambian.
But why ba BY tell us more on this coz we may think kalichepa, “after the meeting the cut was’nt something to take home”…
#7 – Is there a Zambian trying to put up the same system anywhere?
If not, better something than none.
It’s called “analysis paralysis”. Too many rules going nowhere.
One could easily imagine that they haven’t filled his suitcase…
Usually the first blog on this is taken by Nincompoops and the contribution is really poppycock!! its amazing how grown ups can be making such rubbish contributions it actually irritates to the greatest level. GROW UP!!!
viva #1!!!!
#11 you are talking balderdash
whats wrong with chaps from luapula? mahtani or something wnated to set up an airport and hotel in the bangweulu area. this was shot down by some politician. and you cry the loudest that thereis no developement in your area… jack up..
He wants to control the people. When he steals enough money, then it will be his project. The same apathetic kind of thinking like FTJ. Useless chaps from the ituri forest.
It seems mopst of you people including the council secretary dont understand the role and job discription of a Member of Parliament(MP). The MPs Vote in the council is only 1 vote just like every other member. if a full council meeting that can even proceed without the MP passed a vote for the project to go on what blessings are you talking about.if you apply for a plot in an Area do you need blessings or title deeds from the council. Those investors just want tax favours from parliement and they want to call them blessings. Please bloggers dont be mislead by such council secretaries they will make you apear unimformed like them.Do you want B.Y to conduct mass for the investor and bless him
Bembas are really making news.Please keep it up.I suggest we create a Bembas day on our calender.
#7- Bwalya
I guess this land has been lying idle for years. I therefore see no reason why they should not sell it to the interested investors to do whatever they want with it. After all, they are creating “employment for the locals
#16 – I don’t follow. For the record, I really do like your opinions but on this one, you’ve lost me.
B.Y is right to refuse these fake investors land. How on earth do we allow a foreign investor that much land for investment of USD 80 000. Shame on you council secretary your friends in other councils get billion in just rates and you have the audacity to grant 10 000 hectors of over that little money.
# 20.the shame is on u.its nt US80pin bt US80 million.Are u blind to see rightly.even US5pin investment is encouraged to flow into Nchelenge if we are to develop Zed.Its nt the US billion investments that develop the country bt a collection of meaningful investors.Wake up pple……
Mulebako serious pa Zed nanomba niba Benny Mwila.Imiti ikula,when are the grand sons going to rule mwebantu,pliz.I had a big hope when Nawakwi, silwamba,Dipak came into power.Even them, i think could have left a younger generation fuse in.Being MP from place to place makes you a conman.Being no 1 does it make you a hero?infact it shows how low you are in thinking.I know most people just ignore your sillyness.
i meant no 1 on the blog must go Chainama before its too late.
Talking Development is a trick issue to the un educated. Pardon me if you have no development background! Development refers to the both quantitative and qualitative increase in the economy. This increase also need to be feasibly sustainable i.e friendly and compatible to the environment. I think B.Y, just besides being a politician has some development background (though not necesarily having required it formally). He could (this is an assumption)be looking at the size of land to be given away, how many people to be displaced, effect of the refinery on the citizens, employment prospects etc. Let the council secretary seek audience with B.Y and forge forward. Bureacracy is about services
The point is this investor is not seruious and he is misleading the council secretary. an MP has no power to stop a project that has been approved by the council. if the investor has been given a go ahead by the council the invironmental impact assesment has been aproved i cant see where the MP comes in. the council should just look for onother investor if this one is stuck with BY.when by the way when you apply for any investment in this country there is no form where an MP has to sign.
In RSA the Gov cant just sell land so big to a foreigner, BY please dont allow unless it is beneficial to the community at large and the indegenous people will be benefit.
Wake up people with these investors.
#24.if my memory saves me right this Benny Mwila was once an MP for Kalulushi.If indeed he was,then together with you apologize to the Zambian people because no MP in Kalulushi has developed it.it is worse than in 1980,fact.Your support to him must be questioned by any normal person.If ever he is doing fine in business will remind you that some of these businessmen accumulate things dubiously.
LT i think its about time you do what is called recession.You have completely run out of Steam like The Post Newspaper.
A month will do
WE NEED PROPER SCANNING OF ALL THESE BRIEFCASE INVESTORS.BA MWILA,YOU ARE DOING ZED GOOD!SCRUTINIZE THEM B4 YOU ALLOCATE SUCH A GIGATIC PIECE OF LAND.WE ARE NOT DESPERATE FOR INVESTORS WITH BRIEFCASES,WAKE UP ZAMBIA FROM YOU SLUMBER!!!!GET THE NEWS BEHIND THE NEWS
Is Ben Mwila now a member of parliament? I thought he was a president of some opposition political party!
#30 he supported MMD with his opposition party and now he’s reaping the rewards, simple really
Inevestors my foot. These South African investors are just like the chines they bring their own people work in their company. What kind of investment is this where an investor come into our country and we Zambians don’t benefit they just come here to enrich themselves and off they go? Its better the government empower our own people for such projects knowing they will create employment for Zambians.
If Biomax is serious and they mean well, pantu nabo ama investors limo limo nibakabolala, then BY should be ashamed. This man had a lot of companies before he went into politics. Alas now most of his companies are either shells or pale shadows of what they were. A good example is Vitretex Paints in Ndola. We are witnessing a boom in the building of houses by individuals and the paint industry is thriving but, go to vitretex and see how many tins of paint they produce per day. Awe mwandi ni sido kind of business in a big spacious premises. BY we are tired and fed up of you. Time to Zwaaaaa!!!!!!! big man.
let Zambians invest in that plantation.why give it to xenophobias?,remember that Thabo mbeki would not call back to our late President over Zim.Zambians lets believe in ourselves,remember we have an eagle on our flag meaning we can rise above all.
Its a different Benny Mwila…these chaps have run out of names.
#27 Sister Maria, B.Y has been MP in almost all of Zambian constituencies.
wat is this abt been proud of land that we can not even utilise productively.it buffles me that someone is sayn we should the project ourselves as Zambian.who has stopped the Zedian from doing so?Zambians like blaming investors for the local poverty.life can even be worse if the so called “fake investors” were nt there.How much idle land do we have in Zed n who is doing somethn to develop it n yet we are being shamelessly protective of our land.No one is talking abt the possible job creations for the impoverished Nchelenge bros n sisters there.Zed pple are just good at armchair criticising bt do u ve the US80 million to invest in Nchelenge?how many ngwees ve u sent 2Zed # 34??
#36wanyanya name those constituencies and define the word “almost”
#38 you are not from choma, are you?You would know what i mean if you were from there.
# 38 tone down yo comments and be objective in yo opinions.we are working reading yo opinion is making me guilty coz its wasting my precious time.wake up n be realistic.how many times are u gna be defending “Only Zambians should be Investors” mentality?Pple need investors in rural areas.we are nt talkn abt land in Lsk central mwebantu, its Nchelenge, which is one of our poorest towns in Zed.
wat land are we protecting?Zed sounds mo of a Novel than a country at times.u wud rather be poor with land than have a foreigner developn the land?Scrutiny id done by ZDA n ECZ and nt Council level mwebantu
The issue of getting blessings from an MP before any project in an area is undertaken has to be clarified. Is it law that when one wants to undertake a project in a particular, permmision has to be granted from MP before it goes ahead?
# 21 don`t insult me and Zambians who have chosen to stay in Zambia. We are able to what u failed to do in Zambia and make better a living within our country. The fact that you are in SA being hunted by xenophobia and still clining to that country explains what kind of a human being you are.Iam a pround Zambian living proundly in Zed.
Its USD 80M but i still feel the 10 000 hectors of land is too much. This company could be given a small land and be encouraged to give seedlings to locals who would grow the crop and sell it to this investor. It happens for suger and other crops like maize where Milling companies may not even own a hector of land but producing big tonnages of products.
Is this the same Ben Mwila???
#42VINOBS you are good.Dont worry about the xenophobia survivors.Already they want to be recognised as freedom fighters.
#43 how far do you live from Luanshya?This BY was an MP there and better ask what he did for us.
#40.Daaram @ Durban if you cant invest in Zambia ,please dont think other Zambians cant invest.ALL we need is information,we are ready to move in.As for you Daaram @ Durban prepare on the next wave of xenophobia in SA.it s coming especially with ANC crumbling.
By # 42-VINOB
Its USD 80M but i still feel the 10 000 hectors of land is too much. This company could be given a small land and be encouraged to give seedlings to locals who would grow the crop and sell it to this investor.
Big man,U re the biggest joke blogger i ve sn pa LT.Do u know US80m for a small land?m nt a Xenophobia victim.iam just a young 2nd year acctn degree student from a poor Zed family.
Daaram Simakungwe, Mr.
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The land in question is big enough for the plantation. Let the local people do the plantation business while this company does the refining business. It must be a partnership. We want the us80m but we must benefit to the maximum. In Mazabuka the local people were displaced due to the sugar cane plantation. It’s now that they are encouraging locals to produce and sell sugar canes. We may not know the reasons BY is putting across.
Dnt worry Choma.I will invest by the time im 30 yrs old.by then i will be a full Chatered Accountant.
thanx for the advice.i owe u one.
investors wana come to Zed bcoz they wana make money.can u invest US80million on a small land.Who knowz the size of Zimbali lodge here in Durban?Isnt nt almsot quarter of kitwe town size?
Be economical minded wen u re commentn
#43Choma 1, contribute objectively.Your contributions have always sounded too retrogessive.So tell us the type of investment you want to come to our country.Our land mass is incomparable and not even a ration to our population.Mind you,land will only be given by a stipulated period.
ba LT koma chinja topici mwe pliz
Can some one tell me who has stopped the local people from doing the plantation?That company is nt funded by the GRZ.
Why do we wana jump on the blind wagon of investor condemnation.this is nt a biddn investment,bt someone thinking of investn US80million amongest the poorest pple in the world to make profit full stop
50.wanyanya empowerment to Zambians.Zambians can make it.Kaunda killed us zambians but we need to restart all over again.
#49Daaram @ Durban great guy.you will be better off.
#48 is learning some accounting I see that, keep it up young man. $80m is not money enough to sell such big land. B.Y has money and he understands what $80 million can buy compared to what people will loose. Ku Zambian nako, can call that a mega investment?
thanx Choma again.
Zed is in need of FDIs if we gna experience sound economic growth.Its a fact that Zed pple dnt have capacity to outcalass some of our foreign investors due to foreigners’ easy ability to raise money from giant overseas stock markets.We should encourage Zed pple to partner with these foreign investors and nt crminalis them as if they owe us anythn.we need their money so much if u ve an idea of Macro Economics…….
#56.Daaram @ Durban you are talking.Zambia for zambians and good people
let us nt under estimate US80 million investment.it may nt be as big as the Lumwana Investments but poor pple in Nchelenge need it so much.BY should ve invested in it long time ago if he believed in taking investments bak to his home land.
I worked ku Kitwe as accntant and i know how much ama companies yakwa BY were owing us.they are pathetic BY companies with poor balance sheets…
Thnx #55, iam just furthering coz am already a member of Zambia Institute of Chartered Accounatnts,bt Zed course nt recognised kuno ku SA.so i had to start afresh with advantage pano pano…..
58.Daaram @ Durban we should only invite foreigners after Zambians have failed to invest or to form partnerships .Zambians first others second
I feel this mistrust of Foreign Investor is of our own making in the sense that we have a very porous Investment Act which works to our disadvantage and heap the blame on those who capitalise on it. If the Nchelenge District Council could be given ownership of this land and by virtue become shareholders, would that be too much to call. I had so much work experience in Zimbabwe and Uncle Bob put up deliberate safeguard measures in their Investment Act; i.e. if a Foreigner wants to open up a Takeaway he definitely needs an Indigenous Partner with 51% shareholding before setting up. I am sure most of you saw how most Indigenous Zimbos prospers because of this.
#50wanyanya fast money is not always the best moreover Zambia is christian nation,riches will not be a priority of a Chritian.Go to somali for fast money
60.Legend of the Falls you are real
Mr. Mwila might be right this time, we need to check what is being signed. Look what happened to these south african companies FTJ brought after, tax rebate expired they all closed the shops. People from Luapula are very intelligent and are no easily crooked. The fact that they approach ZDA and MP, they need tax favour. VIVA Mwila
Mwila is right we have been dishing out too much land to useless briefcase investors and crooks and sometimes not everything that comes out of ZDA is good and must be examined properly. Imagine some silly chief recently gave out 84,000 hectares of land in Mpika, with the blessings of GR. Initially it was 10,000 and the late Levy reversed that but 84,000 hectares has since been approved next door to Mr Sata’s place and nothing is being said about the matter. Some local company with a dodgy history and with more land of equal size in Chipata (prospecting for minerals I am sure) is reported to be behind that. Whether it is idle land or not the move is wrong and posterity will harshly judge us.
Ba Choma1 think my brother, if ba Benny Mwila was involved in that deal he could not object it.Even if its true that the land in question is too big for that money but they are other people not ba Mwila naimwe.Why didint he open his mouth to Chiluba when the mine in Lyanshya was sold same price like my X5.The problem in Zed is that our men do not fully scrutinize friends who aspire for top offices like the american way.You have ideas but you are not pushers.You see wrong things but you are not able to make politicians realise that they should be answerable to you not the other way.
Plz uncle out Bob in this matter.hes got too much on his mind..
im kiddn….bt its true we need to encourage zed-foerign partnerships.For now,since we are a poor country,liquidity wise,we dnt dnt ve much say with FDIs.If and wen our economy grows to that level Zim was b4 the melt down began,we can also start tighten the loop holes in our investment Acts.A poor man has little or no voice and respect.It happens even napa chililo,a well to do young man is given mo respect pa chililo than a poor older man.The same pictures applies to Zed,wether we like it or nt.Til then its tough luck.Magande once lamented how dimining it is to beg from IMF coz they at times face boys aged 25 at World Bank.
Daarem @ Durban, Iam 29 and already a fully qualified Chartered accountant(ACCA) and Iam managing Internal Audit Department of the company I work for. I bought a bare plot 40x 50 meduim cost in chingola at K10M and paid K4.8M as development charges for a high cost plot i was given by the council and we are saying we should give out 10 000 hectors of land for USD 80M investment becouse it is in some rural district.
#67,u bought land at +-US2pin for a 40X 50.its worthy it man.u re actually showing a good way of doing things.nt just buyn amaule n boosn kwabena n go bak stranded 2Zed.But we are talkn abt US80million investment mudala.as CA, u know Palm oil investments are long term ones and require more funding coz of developmental period costs.Dnt u c this investment been arround for years to come instead of ba Mopani wo will leave ifilindi mu kitwe?bt these guys will leave our palm oil trees if they decide to run away.Who would run away from a country after spendn so much n waitn for over 5yrs to harvest?come on lets be real.this type of investment should be encouraged ku Nchelenge district
Number 65, you just picked word right out of my mouth. You see, BY is a business man and a deal like that would be good for business, I am sure he tried to be part of it beut fyalishupa hence, ku landa NO.
#63 what are you talking about?Read court cases…
I agree with u #69 ba KK.Pull him down mentality should be abolished pa Zed.u know wat i think?BY came to SA and sold the idea of the venture to Biomax.After looking at books of By’s businesses,they pulled out and decided to invest in it without ba BY.Now hes upset n tryn to play delay tactic to frustrate them.((The pple of nchelenge can wait for By bt they cant not wait for one more day of poverty..(Obama))
Ba Yama bat BY nabo..he is totaly lost.
Investment in Zambia from foreign investors as well as from Zambians is very welcome. However, it is critical that all investors are scrutinised properly and ensure that their investments fits in with the overall development plan of the country. Having said that 9250 hectares of land to grant to one foreigner/investor for what they intend to develop is a big ask. Similar factories else where in the world operate efficiently and profitable on less than 5 acres so one wonders what exactly they intend to do with all that land. My guess is that there are minerals which they will be prospecting and stealing at a song. The Mpika project is in the same domain.
I will tell you a story of how some Foreign Investors in Livingstone teamed up and incoporated a limited company and applied to the Livingstone City Council for 5 x 40m x 60m in the Highland residential area some 5 years ago. They put forward to the Council that they would build accommodation for the Vulnerable. The Council swallowed the bait and sometime this year the same company sold off the plots as singles and made over K250m after putting up some ramshackle to protect against repossession. Legally they where right to sell off for a huge profit but morally it’s wrong. So Nchelenge District Council watch out and put measures to protect the land.
That`s why we don`t develop in Zambia. Why should we need blessings from an individual in order to set up developmental projects.I suppose B.Y is still living in the past…wakeup man don`t be selfish. U have your everything & u should let the country develop by not hindering people with your so called “blessings” .
I think BY is doing the right thing.so much land has been dished out and the country is not benefiting.A huge piece of land in patauke boarderin with mozabq was given to south affricans who also engaged australians for exploration for minerals.this is one of the riches parts of zed.it was given away without realising the value,some1 was given afew us$ and that it but those of you who have seen title deeds it says once given land you posses all that is on it such as oil ,mineral etc,zed is not getting any revenue from that place as the mineral are sold abroad.this guy got the land for almost nothing, some bussiness men come to zambia under false pretence to invest,all infor should be checked
Thanx Russian observer #75.if pple wana buy and sell, let it be.Its demand and supply.U should also buy and sell if u want.Zambians like blaming foreigners whenever a foreigner wana bring in money.If they are sittn on gold,then y are they nt developpn the land?lets nt protect wat is nt even there.we are talking abt impanga with no development.if it had minerals,BY would ve gottn it coz dats his homeland.Wake up Zed pple and allow investments to flow in Zed.Change the laws later…
Yes court cases after the workers sued them. what was the Govt involved in protecting the workers, none.
I think the full details of the planned investment need to be released before we pass judgement on either the investors or B.Y. How many times have we heard of investors “planning” to invest X millions of dollars, only to realise too late that they had no intention of fulfilling those promises. Yes, Zambia needs investment. However, we need legitimate investment that ultimately benefits our people. There are too many examples of investment that requires us to make major sacrifices at our expense. Mr. B.Y. would be wise to make public the basis of his objections to the project, otherwise people will continue to speculate.
Breaking news: Zambia parliament votes to increase salaries. Check Post Website. Shame on RB. It’s too soon.
I would rather have Zambians benefit that foreigners.Empower the Zambians
Where By is involved or not Zambins we have to be careful otherwise you will sell all the land. We are not against investments but why start by asking such big piece of land. There are minerals in Luapula province and that is what these south africans might be interested in. Who will go into that land once they get it to inspect what they are doing. Remember our children who are growing up. Is anything going to remain for them. Its true, not even in their country do they get so much land. But land naipwalala mu Zed. Remember history please. Scramble for Africa is still on.
It is high time we remove the old timers from top jobs as to give way for development in the country. Look at what is happening in western province?