By SILUMESI MALUMO
IT is disheartening that government has failed to dismantle the arrears owed to agro dealers, throwing them in destitution, Agro Business Association of Zambia (ABAZ) has said.
Association president Mary Tembo said it was shocking that even after engaging the Ministry of Finance on many occasions nothing had been done.
Recently the Ministry of Finance released about K20 million to pay agro dealers from the K870 million debt.
Ms Tembo claimed government had not shown seriousness in dismantling arrears which had made the agro dealers continue suffering.
She said in an interview yesterday, despite President Edgar Lungu announcing the release of the money to pay arrears, the agro dealers had not been assured of getting their money.
Ms Tembo complained that agro dealers would not continue operating in the next farming season because government had failed to pay them.
“Despite engaging the Minister of Finance we have not been given proper feedback, what they told us was that they are working on it and they are waiting for the committee which has been put in place to look into the money issue,” she said.
Very soon, Ms Tembo said, the Ministry of Finance would state that the money had been diverted to other sectors of the economy instead of caring about us.
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