BY NOEL IYOMBWA
GOVERNMENT should find other means to sustain the operations of Indeni Refinery because it has no immediate plans for employees who will lose their jobs as a result of placing the company on care and maintenance, former ministers, George Mpombo and Gabriel Namulambe have said.
Speaking in separate interviews, the two former ministers in the MMD administration, have urged President Hakainde Hichilema not to be hasty to let go of Indeni but to find ways of saving the company.
Mr Namulambe, a former diplomat and minister said that as long as there are no immediate plans for affected employees, Government should find a lasting solution to the issue.
He lamented that the aspect of Indeni Refinery being costly to run should not be an issue.
Mr Namulambe noted that with a struggling economy, the country cannot afford to have more than 300 people.
“Let them find other ways to reinstate the operations of Indeni. The issue of it being costly to resuscitate should not be there,” he said.
And former Defence Minister George Mpombo said that placing of Indeni on care and maintenance is “staggering incompetence” of the highest order and insensitive to the plight of the workers and the economy as a whole.
Dr Mpombo warned that the closure has severe impact on the economy because it will surely result in shortages of fuel on the market and black market activities.
He observed that pumping finished products through the pipeline is untenable and absolutely day- dreaming given the nature of the product which attract pilferage on a massive scale.
Dr Mpombo explained that there will also be a need for heightened security along the pipeline including surveillance, given the length of the pipeline.
During a media briefing on Wednesday in Ndola, Power Generation and Allied Workers Union of Zambia (POGAWUZ) and the National Union of Transport and Allied Workers representative Mutukelwa Lubita disclosed that closing Indeni will leave over 300 workers redundant.
Mr. Lubita, the POGAWUZ General Secretary, said the refinery has employed about 344 direct workers.
He added that assertions that Indeni processes expensive fuel were not true because prices are determined by the Energy Regulation Board.
