UPND brought IMF problem – Sinkamba
By OLIVER SAMBOKO
GOVERNMENT must accept that by agreeing to an IMF programme, they created a problem that they themselves should sort out, Green Party leader, Peter Sinkamba has said.
He accused the government of following whatever the IMF are telling them, regardless of the negative consequences to the social-economic impact on ordinary citizens.
Mr Sinkamba also said in an interview that the UPND administration should be sincere over its pronouncements on the future of Indeni Oil Refinery in Ndola to avoid creating an impression that it has run out of ideas on how to fix the problems at the refinery company.
He said it is important for Government to consult widely before making a final decision on the future of Indeni to avoid making similar mistakes that were made during privatisation of state assets by the former MMD administration.
Workers at the state-owned refinery were on Tuesday left fuming after Energy Minister, Mr Peter Kapala failed to state a specific period in which the firm will be restructured after the government placed it on care and maintenance late last year.
Mr Sinkamba said its wishful thinking for Government to say the Indeni business model will be changed to produce among other things ethanol without saying where the raw materials such as cassava will come from.
He said government should have first put in place a policy or programme to boost the production of cassava, the main raw material used for production of ethanol.
“How can they say Indeni should start producing ethanol without stating how they are going to increase cassava production, because even in this year’s budget there is no allocation for mass production of cassava,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Sinkamba says a lot of resources in terms of money will be needed not only for cleaning of the TAZAMA pipeline to allow for transportation of finished products but also to provide security to prevent vandalism.
He said Zambia which is already burdened with debt has no capacity to protect the 2, 000 kilometre-long pipeline from vandalism once opened for transportation of finished products.
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