Dormant companies will go to IDC – Chama

Wed, 05 Oct 2016 11:24:50 +0000

INDUSTRIES that have for a long time been lying dormant will be revamped through the Industrial Development Cooperation (IDC), Defence Minister Davis Chama has revealed. Mr Chama said this when he paid a courtesy call on Zambia National Service (ZNS) Commandant Nathan Mulenga at ZNS headquarters in Lusaka yesterday.

He said all the industrial projects would be operating through the IDC which was given the mandate to pursue the industrialization programmes to enhance the economic sector. Mr Chama said he was happy that the Mulungushi Textiles, which is one of the industries under the IDC, was doing well and that 500 Zambians had since been employed so far and that 2,500 more were expected to be employed when the company  reached its full production capacity.

The Defence minister thanked President Edgar Lungu for his commitment to open the factory which was dormant for a long time. He said despite Mulungushi Textiles operating under the IDC , there would still be cooperation between the company and ZNS because it had been helping ZNS in producing official uniforms for servicemen and women. Meanwhile, Mr Chama said Government was working hard to make sure that the rehabilitation of feeder roads was progressing well.

He said that President Lungu made a strategic decision when he decided that the Rural Roads Unit (RRU) should be placed under ZNS and that he had information on the ground that the service was doing a great job in rehabilitating and opening up the rural areas through the Link Zambia 8000 project. Mr Chama said the initiative would help ease the transportation of crops and other goods  and would  enhance job creation among youths countrywide. IDC, which is owned by Government through the Ministry of Finance, has 34 former State-owned enterprises under it umbrella.