The NAKONDE Transporters Association in Muchinga Province has appealed to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) to consider paying its transporters in full who were engaged to transport maize grains in 2016 and 2017 crop marketing seasons.
However , efforts to get FRA Board Chairperson Joe Siyachela for comment on the matter were unfruitful time as his mobile phone went unanswered by broadcast time.
The Association has lamented that it is not fair for FRA to pay each transporter a uniform sum K50, 000 across the board despite it owing them more.
ZANIS reports the Association’s Chairperson Kenny Mugala to said disclosed this in an interview today adding that the part payment of K50, 000 across the board was unfair.
“ The part payment of K50, 000 across the board which has been paid to all the affected transporters in the country is not fair considering that the affected transporters are owned more than that, “ said Mr. Mugala.
He further appealed to FRA to consider revising the rates considering that the local transportation rates from satellite to holding depots has remained unchanged for the past five years when the cost of fuel has gone up during the same period.
“ The affected transporters have sacrificed a lot by ensuring that they get to remote places to move grains to safe holding depots, “ he said adding that ,” the agency should consider revising the rates as well as paying what is owed to them in good time.”
He said as the crop marketing season opens in the next few days, the FRA should consider paying transporters in full for the work they did in 2016 and also pay them half for the work done in the 2017 season before engaging them for the 2018 and 2019 exercise.
The FRA will now say they consulted the transporters to be paid this amount across the board just like they said about the maize price with ZNFU. Anyway transporters are also to blame why rush for such contracts when you know FRA has no money even to buy maize, forget about paying transporters.
Payment from as far back 2016…the directors probably routed all payments to themselves; just imagine the overheads these transporters incurred, K50,000 is peanuts
In luapula prov,they were just told 2 get maize sale
& each one should look 4 his or her(millers)customers where 2 sale maize