By RUTH YAMBAYAMBA
OVER 50, 000 jobs are likely to be lost if Government will continue to procrastinate and fail to address the challenges affecting the timber industry, the Timber Producers Association of Zambia (TPAZ) has warned.
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The timber industry has had many challenges including the illegal harvesting and exportation of the Mukula but government has so far paid little or no attention resulting into the plyaers in the industry warning about the impending mass job losses.
TPAZ is now appealing to government to hasten in resolving the problem in the timber industry that as failure to do so was likely to result in the loss of more than 50,000 direct and indirect jobs.
“It is an embarrassment to see what is obtaining in the timber industry. We expect that Cabinet will, with immediate effect attend to the petition which we will present to the President Hakainde Hichilema. I am appealing to the Green Economy and Environment Minister Collins Nzovu and President Hichilema to look into these issues because they are denting the government’s image,” TPAZ president Charles Musange says.
Mr Masange said it was sad that Government had remained silent over the challenges that the timber industry has been facing and that his organisation would soon be petitioning President Hichilema so that he could move Cabinet to immediately attend to the challenges.
He said the delay in resolving the persistent and perennial challenges in the timber industry was denting the new dawn government image as a listening and caring government.
Mr. Masange said inability by government to resolve the difficulties being faced in the timber industry was end up forcing businesses entities to start importing timber from other countries because there was a real danger that the remaining pinewood stocks were being depleted. He said government should allow traders to resume Mukula trade in light of the shortage of pinewood in the country and save the thousands jobs that were on the verge of being lost.
Mr. Masange said it was shocking that Government had not lifted the ban on trade in Mukula while concession owners were losing the resource through theft and illegal harvesting of the gem wood.
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