The Zambia Cooperative Federation (ZCF) has completed the installation of two solar powered milling plants in Kasisi area of Chongwe District.
The milling plants which are funded by government under the Presidential milling initiative are expected to start operations next week.
Speaking when he toured the facility and met headmen and head women in senior Chieftainess Nkomesha’s chiefdom in Kasisi area, ZCF Operations Manager Derick Sokoni urged the traditional leaders to ensure that committees and cooperatives are formed to oversee the operations of the milling plants.
Mr. Sokoni also urged the headmen to identify qualified youths who will be trained in operating the milling plants in their localities.
He said that government will soon send empty bags and maize so that the milling plants can start operating.
Mr. Sokoni further urged the headmen to encourage their subjects and cooperatives in the area not to sell their maize to briefcase buyers at exploitative prices but instead sell to cooperatives at reasonable prices.
And Mr. Sokoni indicated that the seventy thousand worth solar milling plants should be guarded jealously by the cooperatives and the community.
He also said that engineers will be sent in all provinces and areas were these plants have been installed to help with the technical operation s.
Speaking at the same meeting Lusaka District Commissioners Davison Mulenga said the coming of solar milling plants will help reduce the price of mealie meal to affordable levels for ordinary Zambians.
Meanwhile Senior Headman Kanchubi has called on cooperatives in the area to be active and creative if they are to succeed in running the milling business.
The traditional leader said that cooperatives should avoid being active only when getting inputs under the Fertilizer Input Support Programme (FISP).
I hear these solar milling plants are useless, in Kasama, they sometimes only managed to produce one 25kg of mealie meal per day. Whose stup.id intiative was this? This should have been piloted before spending K70,000 to buy each solar milling plant…. Millions of kwacha have been worsted on this initiative and it will not make any difference.
It is very clear that the plants are not making a difference, mealie meal shortage is everywhere and prices dont seem to be coming down. What Lungu needs to understand is that the price of mealie meal can only be brought down if the cost of production is reduced.
Comment:Pipo who will never see any thing gud Zambia what they only see is their tribe to be gud. iwe muleka mwalichila haaaa.
Good news for a change from PF Govt. If, and I mean if, what was reported last November in some online media is true that each of these solar powered Milling plants has a throughput of 300 by 25 kilogram bags of both breakfast and roller meal per day, then this is a good move. Let’s wait and see. Now, where is the maize to mill?